Gaean Dreams
by Itachiforever342
Summary: Euphimia :not from Code Geass: is a dream-seer that's never been wrong when it came to predictions. She suddenly has a dream concerning herself and doesn't know what to think of it! Will it come true?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Here's my attempt at making a different type of Esca story, so here!

Enjoy!

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**Gaean Dreams**

For Euphimia, her dreams always foretold the future, even though she could do nothing to change it. If she dreamed it, it was sure to come true, no matter who it was about. As the oldest of three, she'd foretold the birth of her other two siblings, when they would move, and other large family decisions. She foretold the deaths of people she knew, and often she would be told to not speak of her dreams, for fear she would foretell something even more ominous. It wasn't her fault she was a dream-seer, but as she got older, her dreams would often turn for the worse.

Never before had she had a dream about herself, but because of her history of being dead-on, the dreams she was about to have would bring a shock to her family.

* * *

"_Where…am I…?"_

_The forlorn girl stood overlooking a large city, surrounded by a natural wall of rock and forest. As she looked up, she saw the Earth and moon in the sky, rather large for the planet she was on not to be visible. The wind blew through her hair, which flowed to her shoulders. The smell of grass overwhelmed her senses, as she bent down and picked a purple flower she'd never seen before in her life. It had a soothing scent as she lifted it to her nose, not unlike a mixture of lavender and basil._

_As she stood back up, she spotted a pair of white wings flying towards her. "A bird? No…it's too large…an angel? But that's impossible…"_

* * *

She woke up, straightening her light pink yukata automatically, a scattering of flower petals on the bottom. Holding her forehead as she sat up, she found it was barely dawn. She sighed and got up, going to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day before she would go down and eat breakfast with her parents. She thought about her dream, thinking how implausible it was, a person with wings flying to her, a planet so close that the Earth and the moon were in the sky like that. Maybe it wasn't a foretelling dream, but she'd never had normal dreams before. She'd have to talk with her parents about this.

She was blow-drying her hair when her little sister, Cornelia, came into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was quite the opposite of her sister, rather bouncy and happy, but then again, she wasn't a dream-seer, but she had powers to sense emotions from people, so she knew when her sister had a bad foretelling dream. She brushed her teeth before running a comb through her ebony curls, looking up at her elder sister by three years with her just as dark eyes.

"Euphy, are you okay? You seem confused this morning, not so downhearted after you've had a dream. Was it a puzzling dream about someone you don't know yet?"

"Yes and no, Cornelia. I'm going to talk about it during breakfast."

The elder girl shut the door and pulled on her sailor uniform, white shirt with a light blue trim and blue cuffs, dark blue bow tied around the collar, and a light blue pleated skirt that went down to her knees. She pulled on her navy blue socks and brushed her straight whitish-blonde hair, her pale gold eyes always hooded because of her usually heavy mood.

"In a couple years I'll be in your school uniform, Euphy! Maybe I'll be able to have yours, since you'll graduate before then!"

"Perhaps, if I don't dream that you die in a horrific way."

"Eeek! Don't say that! You might curse me!"

"I wouldn't be able to, Cornelia. Don't worry about it."

Her voice, lower pitched than any other girl her age, made her seem even more depressed. Perhaps this person she would meet would make her happy, but then again, she might be dreaming of something impossible.

"Come on, Euphy! It's time for breakfast!" the youngest of the three, their younger brother Sebastian, who had dark hair and eyes like the middle sister, called as he passed the bathroom.

Euphimia came out and walked downstairs, sitting at the breakfast table, where her father, mother and brother were sitting, sitting in her place next to her mother. Her mother, pale blonde with blue eyes, smiled at her firstborn.

"Euphy, what's the forecast today?"

"I had a rather odd dream last night, something I've never dreamed before."

"Well then, let's hear it," her father, raven-haired and dark-eyed, urged.

"I was standing in a field, overlooking a large city with a natural formation of rock and a thick forest surrounding it."

"You had a dream about yourself?" her mother asked, curious. "That's never happened before. Where is this place you were? Have you ever been there before?"

"No, I haven't. When I looked up at the sky, I saw the Earth and the moon, like a pair of moons. The wind was blowing, a strong smell of grass dominating over everything else. I bent down and picked a small violet flower I've never seen before in my life, and when I smelled it, it was a mix of lavender and basil."

"No flower I've ever smelled has that scent," her father observed, since he was a rather well-known botanist. "Go on. Was there anything else?"

"Wait dear," her mother interrupted. "Euphy, you say that the Earth and the moon were in the sky of this place? But how is that possible?"

"I don't know, Mother," Euphimia admitted. "The last part was the strangest. As I looked towards the city again, I saw a pair of white wings coming towards me. At first I thought it was a bird, but as they came closer, it was a winged person. It was then I woke up."

Her parents looked just as puzzled as she was, before her mother's eyes brightened. "Perhaps you were in heaven, Euphy! Maybe you're…going to die…" the woman trailed off, looking troubled.

Her father patted her head. "Maybe it'll be your time to go and this place you're seeing is the afterlife, the person coming towards you is the angel of death."

Euphimia considered, although she hadn't felt like she'd been dead in the dream, she'd felt very alive. But what else could that world be; unless there was a world hidden from everyone by a power even greater than the magicians on Earth, though that didn't seem feasible? If this was a dream of the near future, could it be that she was going to die? Then why didn't she have a dream about her actual death?

Everything was so bewildering at this moment in time.

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If you all wanted to know, I based Euphimia on a character from an anime series called X, he was a dream-seer named Kankyo! Yay!

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

I guess no reviews for me, but that won't bring me down! I'll just try harder!

Enjoy!

* * *

She walked partway to school with Cornelia and Sebastian, the pair only a year apart in age, so they were going to the same middle school. Perhaps she would be able to take a nap and dream again, to see if this next one would be about the same place as last night. She did have the habit of falling asleep during class if it was a refresher lesson. She was greeted by her friends, Hitomi and Yukari, who were the same age as she was.

"Euphy-chan!" Yukari called, hugging her around the shoulders. "So how are you this wonderful day?"

"About the same."

"Euphy-chan, you look a little more absentminded than usual. Did you have one of those dreams again?" Hitomi asked, looking concerned, since she knew that her pale friend often had ominous premonitions.

"Yes, but it might be that I'm losing my psychic sense. I dreamed of a beautiful place high above the earth, with an angel flying towards me."

The two other girls gasped. "You mean that you're going to be taken by the Shinigami soon?!" Hitomi worried, eyes wide.

"How horrible!" Yukari agreed.

"Did you dream about when you died?"

Euphimia shook her head. "No, that was what was odd. I didn't dream about how I got to that place, only that I was standing there, puzzled as to how I was there."

"Maybe you'll die in your sleep!" Yukari guessed, both girls looking very afraid for their friend.

"I don't know, but it didn't seem like heaven to me."

As they entered the classroom, the teacher wrote on the blackboard: "Review on chapter nine of textbook". This earned many groans of the students, but this is what the pale-haired girl had hoped for. Naptime, here we come.

As the teacher began to speak, she closed her eyes, drifting off into oblivion.

_

* * *

A dense forest was all around her, and she sensed the presence of a person behind her, but she didn't turn around. A crashing came through the trees, and she flinched, only for a pair of hands to rest on her shoulders. A deep voice murmured, "Do not fear, if you're calm it won't hurt you."_

_A creature, covered in grayish-green scales and large, yellow eyes came out of the foliage, growling as it approached on two clawed legs, its long, spiked tail curled around its right side. Its purple tongue swiped over its huge, sharp teeth as it considered her. She clutched her heart, which was beating wildly, as she whispered, "What is it?"_

"_It's a dragon, one of the guardians of this country."_

"_Will it eat us if I startle it?"_

"_Perhaps, but you should trust me when I tell you that it won't hurt you if you're calm."_

_She took deep breaths, calming herself down as she looked into the huge yellow eyes that blinked slowly at her. Its growling ceased, before it retreated, no longer interested in her._

"_What draws it to people?"_

"_Fear and anger, so if you walk in these woods, it's best to keep yourself calm so that you don't goad them into attacking you. Come on, we should get to the city so that we don't have any more encounters."_

* * *

"Euphimia-san, would you please open your eyes and answer the question on page fifty-two?" the teacher called.

She opened her eyes, looking down at her closed textbook and turned to the appropriate page.

"Stand, if you please."

She did as asked, answering fluidly as she always did, since she was a quick study. As she sat down again, Yukari whispered, "Did you dream about something?"

"Yes, but nothing concerning anyone in the classroom. There isn't anything to worry about."

At lunch, she sat on the roof with Yukari and Hitomi, the red-haired girl looking a little frustrated. "It's not fair that the teacher never punishes you for sleeping during class."

"Maybe it's because I always know the answer, Yukari-chan," Euphimia pointed out blandly. "My mother told the principal, who told all my teachers, that I was prone to fall asleep in class because of my condition. Every once in a while I do fall asleep to have an important dream, but most of the time I sleep because it's too boring."

Hitomi sat forward. "So what was this dream about?"

"I was in a forest with someone, and a creature I'd never seen before almost ate me."

"That doesn't make any sense. Is this what you meant that you might be losing your sight?"

"Yes, because I've never had such nonsensical dreams before, and about myself, no less. I might be losing my sight, or this might be an actual place I'll go to."

"Did this person speak that was with you?"

"Yes, about being calm or the creature might eat me."

Hitomi looked troubled, but didn't say anything else.

Yukari laughed, slapping her friend on the back. "I think your gift might be on the fritz! Dreaming about places that don't even exist!"

"I know, but it felt so real."

"Maybe you might need to get yourself a boyfriend, so you can dream about him instead!"

"Like who? You know that anyone who gets close to me gets into my dreams and has something bad happen to them. Like Hitomi-chan, I dreamed that she was spirited away to a strange place, and it happened the next day. You dated Amano-sempai for a couple months before I dreamed that you would break up horridly, and you did."

"That had nothing to do with you, Euphy-chan! We just weren't right for each other, is all!"

"You seemed like the perfect couple to me, before I had that dream."

"It wasn't meant to be, so that's that. I don't blame you at all."

"At least I haven't dreamed that either of you have died. I had enough of that when I was in that school in England."

"We might live on until we become old grannies!"

"That is the best I can hope for you two, to get married, have children and grandchildren and live to a ripe old age and die in your sleep."

"You should be worrying about yourself, if the Shinigami is going to come for you one of these nights!"

"I already told you that it probably isn't like that. I'm not going to die."

"Let's just hope your family doesn't buy you a casket because they think so."

"Not likely."

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This is just a set-up, you guys! She'll be on Gaea soon! Sorta like the first parts of the movie!

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

I wonder if my reputation has been destroyed because of the sucky fic I posted a while ago in the Esca section...**sigh**... Oh well, might as well enjoy posting, even with no reviews, although it pains me to see no one commenting on this!

To anyone out there...

Enjoy!

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When she got home with her brother and sister, their mother cried out in relief at seeing her oldest still alive. "Euphy darling! I was so worried that you'd die at school! At least die at home so we can have a final goodbye and not traumatize your friends!"

Euphimia closed her eyes as her mother squeezed her tight. "Mother, I don't think I'm going to die today."

"Your dreams have always been spot on! Within a few days it's going to happen, if not tonight! I don't want to lose my baby so soon, but not even you can change your visions!"

Cornelia went into the front room and shouted, "Mom! Why have you already ordered a coffin for Euphy?! It looks so scary right in the middle of the room!"

"You're going to creep out the neighbors if they come to visit!" Sebastian concurred.

The yellow-eyed teen broke out of her mother's embrace to see a long black coffin lying in the middle of the room, sighing in defeat. She might as well go along with it until her first dream happened. "If I'm going to die, at least hide the hearse until after I'm deceased."

"My poor darling, accepting her fate with the grace she's always had! Please let your death be quick and painless!"

"I'm going to go study."

The ghostly girl went to her room, putting on the traditional kimono that she wore for around the house, white with black hexagons with pentacles inside them on the right shoulder and left bottom, a cloud of dark gray color around them, such was the symbol of her family, since they did have magical powers. She tied her hair back in simple short ponytails with black ribbons, letting them rest on her shoulders as she read through her lessons. She crossed her feet under the chair she sat on, before she had a feeling of strong magic coming towards her location from above, a second previous to a pillar of blinding light engulfed her and lifted her away, only giving her enough time to grab a pair of geta from the floor.

* * *

She was set down in the very spot that she'd dreamed about.

"Where…am I…?"

She slipped her geta on, the smell of grass strong in her nose as the wind blew through her hair, her ponytails swaying in the wind. She saw the city with its natural barrier around it, and the two moons in the sky. She bent down and picked one of the odd purple flowers, smelling it and its soothing scent of lavender and basil. She looked towards the city again, seeing the wings coming towards her.

"A bird? No…it's too large…an angel? But that's impossible…"

Her eyes widened as the winged person came closer, it turning out to be a young man about her age, with wild black hair and deep brown eyes, very muscular and taller than her by a few inches. The only things he wore were a set of leather riding gloves, a pair of tan pants and a pair of riding boots that matched his gloves. He landed and blinked.

"Who are you? I saw a pillar of light, so I thought…"

She just stared at him, thinking that she must've gone crazy, or that bright light must've been her ascension to heaven, and she really _was_ dead. Was this her Shinigami come to guide her into the afterlife? But he seemed a bit too real to be dead…so where was she, then? A place where people had wings like angels couldn't be anything like Earth, she was sure, but her dream had come true, as they always did.

He stepped closer, his wings folding as he moved so he could balance better. "Are you all right? You're really pale and you're shaking."

She stilled her body, or at least tried to. She wasn't scared, so why was she trembling? She was feeling suddenly rather feverish, what was happening? Could it be she was having a nervous breakdown?

He saw the flower in her hands and understanding came to his face. He yanked the flower from her hands and looked at them. "I thought so. You picked the entire flower, including its poisonous stem, and you have a small cut on your hand. The flower petals are medicinal, but the rest of it is poisonous! I have to get you to the castle before you die!"

He lifted her bride-style and took wing, taking the flower with him. She didn't even have the strength to blush, being held so close to a man's bare chest, as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Stay with me! If you fall asleep, you'll never wake up!"

She forced her eyes to stay open, but it was so hard…she felt so tired…

He landed in the forest behind the city, sheathing his wings in a flurry of feathers. A sudden crashing came from within the trees. Her eyes widened, as her second dream came true.

"Do not fear, if you're calm it won't hurt you."

A creature, covered in grayish-green scales and large, yellow eyes came out of the foliage, growling as it approached on two clawed legs, its long, spiked tail curled around its right side. Its purple tongue swiped over its huge, sharp teeth as it considered her. She clutched her heart, which was beating wildly, as she whispered, "What is it?"

"It's a dragon, one of the guardians of this country."

"Will it eat us if I startle it?"

"Perhaps, but you should trust me when I tell you that it won't hurt you if you're calm."

She took deep breaths, calming herself down as she looked into the huge yellow eyes that blinked slowly at her. Its growling ceased, before it retreated, no longer interested in her.

"What draws it to people?"

"Fear and anger, so if you walk in these woods, it's best to keep yourself calm so that you don't goad them into attacking you. Come on, we should get to the city so that we don't have any more encounters."

He carried her hurriedly to a castle, where he didn't allow any questions as to who she was, he only lifted the flower and everyone stood aside. He got to a room and plucked the flower petals from the plant and crushed them in a small bowl before applying the salve to her cut. She started to feel better after a moment, and he smiled at seeing her improve so quickly.

"So, now that that's over, who are you? Was it fate that brought you here?"

"My name is Euphimia, although everyone calls me Euphy. I don't know what brought me here, but I foresaw this in the dream I had last night."

"So you're a seer?"

"A dream-seer, and the future in my dreams is always certain, but I have no power to change it, no matter how much I want to."

"How hard have you tried?"

She was taken aback by that question, since no one had ever asked such a thing before. She lowered her eyes and shook her head. "I was told that because of my ability, I also had a handicap as well. I can see the future, but cannot do anything about it. Almost everyone I was close to had something happen to them because of my visions."

"So you've never tried, have you?"

"No, I haven't. My belief came from generations of dream-seers. Right in front of my eyes I've seen so many of my friends die within my dreams and then in real life. Every night a new prediction comes to me and within a few days, it comes true, whether harmless or not."

"So if you were to fall asleep and have a dream right now, you'd see something from the near future?"

"Yes."

"You've never tried to do something because of your ability, no wonder you're so depressed."

Just as she opened her mouth to answer, a voice called, "Van-sama!"

A girl with soft pink hair to her shoulders and the largest ears Euphimia had ever seen came running in, her blue eyes bright as she hugged his arm. "Merle, what is it?"

"I heard we had a new visitor from the Mystic Moon!"

"Yes, we do. This is Euphimia, she says she's a dream-seer."

"You're a seer, too? Did you see that you were going to come here?"

"Yes, I did," the pale girl answered, trying to figure out what this new girl was. Whatever she was, she wasn't human.

"If you want to know, I'm a cat girl."

"How did you—"

"It was written all over your face."

"A cat girl…hmmm…"

"Euphimia…her name fits in better here than Hitomi's did!"

"Did you say…Hitomi? As in Kanzaki Hitomi?"

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"She and I are friends."

"Then you should know how she's doing! Is she doing okay back on the Mystic Moon?"

"Yes, I think she is. I told her about my dreams and she seemed a little quiet…she came here too when she was spirited away…that's interesting."

"You seem much quieter and more refined than she was, Euphimia. Your clothes fit in with the style Freid has in their nightwear." Merle bent over and picked up her shoes. "These shoes, do you actually wear these to walk around? I'll have to see it to believe that you do."

Van placed a hand on Merle's shoulder. "You should let her rest, Merle. She's recovering from being poisoned."

"Really? She looks pretty healthy to me, besides being so pale she looks like a ghost."

"I actually feel much better," Euphimia assured him. "I think I can get up now."

To prove her point, she slid off the bed, slipping her feet into her geta. He stared like she was inhuman.

"How? You were badly poisoned, dying…do you have another power other than dream-seeing?"

"I've always had a rapid recovery rate, but thank you for healing me." She bowed deeply to him, an almost ninety-degree one, at that.

Van knew this was a sign of great humility for her, not because he was royalty, she didn't know he was. He stood and nodded in acknowledgment. "Your thanks are appreciated."

She raised herself back up, her melancholy expression lightening imperceptibly. Merle put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll show you around the castle! Van-sama, do you want to come too?"

"I'm sorry, but I have a meeting," he apologized, before leaving.

Merle sighed, but didn't seem disappointed. "Van-sama is always busy like that, even though he does spare enough time for me and his friends that I'm not worried he's getting too engrossed in his work."

"What does he do?"

"I guess he didn't tell you, but he's the king of this country, Fanelia!"

"Fanelia? That's a nice-sounding name. Should I call him 'Van-sama', too?"

"Call him whatever you want, since you're technically not part of this country. You only just arrived, anyway. Come on, we can talk some more while we walk around the castle!"

Through the tour, she learned many things about Fanelia and what had happened during the time Hitomi had been spirited away. When she admitted that she'd had a dream about Hitomi's disappearance, Merle was surprised that the girl had never mentioned such a powerful dream-seer.

"So, what are your limitations to this power?"

"According to my mother, I'll have it as long as I live, although at one point, if my power becomes too potent, I'll fall into a coma, to forever dream about the future but unable to do anything about the visions I see. I'm not supposed to be able to change what I foresee, but I never tried, so I guess if I have dreams about this place, I'll try to change it if something horrid might happen."

"Your accent is different from Hitomi's. Are you from another place on the Mystic Moon?"

"I used to live in a country called England until I was twelve, so I still have a distinct English accent to my Japanese. I'm a little puzzled that we can understand each other, even though I would think that you wouldn't speak the same language I am."

"I don't know how it works, but we can, that's all I can tell you."

"Now that I'm feeling better, will I be housed here in the palace, or somewhere in the city?"

Merle's tail poofed up as she listened to Euphimia's rather flat tone of voice, as if she had nothing to live for, that all she saw was a hopeless future. Her expression was rather miserable, if not downright dispirited. At first she'd thought that she was just a shy, quiet type of girl, but this was a girl that didn't have any optimism in the least. The whole time they'd talked, she hadn't laughed, smiled, or even changed her expression in the least. Did she even know how to smile anymore?

Euphimia saw the hostile look on the cat girl's face and wondered what her problem was. "Is something the matter?"

"You're so doom and gloom! What is your problem?! Do you even know how to change your expression anymore?!"

"When all I see is tragedy that I cannot change and my family actually supported it by doing the opposite of helping, I have nothing to be happy about. I've lost so many people close to me because I had visions of their deaths and then saw them come to life before my eyes… I've come to see the world as an unchangeable place of death and despair."

"You dummy! _Everything_ can change! Nothing is absolute, even your power! If you don't like what you see, try your hardest to change it for the better! If you just sit there and watch, you're nothing but a bringer of misery on the people you see in your visions! At least Hitomi tried with all her might to change the fate of those she saw! If she'd just let them come true, Van-sama would've been dead before he'd become king! _That's _what your power is for! To change what's bad!"

At those words, Euphimia thought about what this could mean. So what her mother had told her, that she had the power to see, but not change, was untrue? But hadn't her mother had the family line to prove that dream-seers couldn't change anything they see? But what of Merle's strong proclamation? Who was right?

She would have to figure that out herself.

* * *

Another chapter posted...yay! If any of you have seen X or read X/1999, you'll see the very similar character to Kankyo, who was a the only male dream-seer in the series. I based my OC on him, so I don't own Kankyo either!

Besides that, I hoped you've liked it so far!

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

When evening came around, Merle led her to the dining hall, where Van already sat at the head of the long table. As the pale-haired girl moved to sit at the foot, her companion pulled her to sit next to her, on Van's right.

"Van-sama, you have to help me teach her how things are run around here. She was going to sit at the foot of the table, when there isn't a reason to!"

Van gazed at the girl from the Mystic Moon and considered. "Euphy-san, have you ever had to sit at a table like this one?"

"My family had a very high-standing name in England, so yes, I have, but the more important guests sat near the head, while the lesser ones sat at the foot."

Merle bristled at the implication Euphimia had said about herself: she wasn't important enough to sit with them. "You're an important guest, Euphimia! Any friend of Hitomi's is a very significant person here in Fanelia!"

Van smiled a little at her and placed a hand on Merle's shoulder. "To us, you're as good as nobility here. When people meet you here in the castle, I expect them to address you as such. Euphimia-sama, in the very least."

"I don't deserve such respect, when I've done nothing."

"Quite the contrary, you've been a companion for Merle, and you gave me something to leave the castle for a while. I think you've done quite the service to the both of us. For that, you ought to be put in a room next to Merle's. It should be convenient and comfortable for you both, for as long as you're supposed to stay here."

Merle grinned and chirped, "You and I are going to become the best of friends while you're here, you can count on that! We should go get you some more clothes if you're going to be here for more than a day or two! Unlike Hitomi, you only have the one outfit, as far as I can see!"

"Yes, I was placed here with just this one kimono and a yukata underneath it, along with my geta."

"Don't you have…what is it called…a sailor uniform, like Hitomi does?"

"But I wasn't at school when I was brought here, I was at home, so I had on more comfortable clothes."

"That looks so confining, like you wouldn't be able to move at all without exposing yourself."

"This type of clothing isn't meant for running, it's meant for walking, nothing more. In the past it was worn as an everyday garment rather than just for festivals and formal occasions, unlike it is now for the more part of the population. My family is a little more refined and higher up on the social ladder, so we wear this clothing around the house and only wear normal clothing for school and going out. Personally, I don't like wearing what everyone else calls normal clothing, it's too exposing."

Merle snorted. "Okay, so you don't like uncovering your body? How do you take a bath? Or change?"

Van rolled his eyes before covering his face with a hand at the question.

"I'm like everyone else, but my standards of modesty are at an extreme that I think uncovering the back of my neck is scandalous."

"But you are right now."

"Around the house is one thing, but I hadn't planned on leaving it today, so I tied my hair up."

"You're weird Euphimia, or can I can you Euphy, like Van-sama?"

"Do what you like."

* * *

Just some get to know you stuff in this chapter! Sometimes its tedious, but necessary!

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

New chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

"_Euphy…do you recognize my voice?" a voice asked._

"_No, I've never heard it before," she answered honestly._

_A pair of arms came around her, and she looked down to see one was metallic, the other thick and muscled. She stiffened when warm lips played with the nape of her neck. "But you've visited me so many times in my dying dreams, then you revived me with your power. You're like an angel of life, while I am your black-winged angel."_

"_I don't remember that."_

"_You asked to see someone and you came to my dreams, a year ago. I told you that I wouldn't be alive much longer, but you wanted to see anyone, to ease the pain. You were so lonely, you said, so you promised to meet me in the real world and brought me back to life, telling me that I was to search for you and that you would be here, on Gaea, in one year to come."_

"_I couldn't have made that prediction, when I didn't even know what or where Gaea was. I couldn't have known this far into the future."_

"_You've changed and matured in ways I never would've imagined, Euphy…"_

"_Since you already know my name, what's yours?"_

"_Folken Lacour de Fanel."_

_A single black feather floated in front of her eyes, making her memory spark anew. She couldn't believe that she'd had contact with this world so long ago, and Folken…in the dream world, they were—_

* * *

A sudden pain woke her, and she opened her eyes to find she'd fallen out of bed, something that hadn't happened before, because she'd always been in a futon when she'd rolled over onto the floor. She winced, rubbing her head as she sat up. That dream…had she really visited the dreams of this Folken and brought him back to life? She couldn't for her own life remember anything of the sort, but her dreams had never been wrong.

This dream didn't seem to be harmful, so she'd let it run its course. But she would find out who this Folken was, before the event actually happened. He had something to do with Fanelia, because his last name was Fanel, although she didn't know what.

Who would she ask?

Van, of course.

She got up, scrubbed herself off with a sponge, dried off, dressed and then let her hair down, brushing it out. When she was done, she stepped into her geta, opening the door and walking down the hallway to Merle's room, about to knock when Van's voice stopped her.

"Merle isn't an early riser like you. Is there something you wanted?"

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you, Van-san."

"I know you had another dream just now, so it must be a private matter. Come with me."

He led her to the roof, where he sat down and she knelt next to him. She asked straight away, "Van-san, do you know a man called Folken Lacour de Fanel?"

"Did you hear that name in the dream you had?"

"Yes."

"Folken…was my older brother…he died a year ago."

The two stories did match, but now she had to think about how she'd been able to revive him when he was dead. She didn't have the power to do that, did she? If she had, then why hadn't she used it to save her friends, instead of this stranger who she'd invaded the dreams of?

"Did he have black wings when he died?"

"Yes, he did, but how could you have seen him in a dream when you dream of the future?"

"I don't know, but however I did it, the dream will happen in real life within the next few days. And the dream I had was so vivid and moving that I fell out of bed."

"Do you fall out of bed when you have vivid dreams?"

"Well, this is the first time, although I do toss and turn that I'm out of my bed at home, which is similar to the beds they have in Freid. On the Mystic Moon they call them futons."

"Futons? Those flat small beds?"

"Yes, because I'm not used to having a normal bed anymore, my tossing and turning caused me to fall onto the floor and that caused me to wake up before my dream came to conclusion."

"Do you think it would finish if you went back to sleep?"

"I don't know, I've never actually tried, but I don't need to. I had enough of it to get what was going to happen."

"Do you think we'll visit his grave today?"

"I don't think so, because this one didn't have an element of sadness to it."

Merle came up, smiling. "So here you are, Euphy! We have to get going or we won't get to the seamstress' until midday! Come on!"

She caught the girl's wrist and pulled her up and into the castle, where they had a small breakfast and then were out on the streets, where people turned to look at the oddly-dressed girl, though not as much as they'd stared at Hitomi the first time she'd come. They'd heard about the pillar of light, but only now saw the girl that had come with it.

"So, if you're so touchy about what skin you display, you'll have to argue with the seamstress for a while, because your standards and Fanelian style don't match up very well, especially when it comes to nobility."

Euphimia nodded, rather distracted. She was looking at everything as they passed, although she looked disinterested because of her rather saddened countenance. She gasped a little when a black feather came across her vision, a long, delicate feather. It floated into an alleyway, her curiosity piqued as she followed it, leaving Merle, who hadn't noticed her sudden change in direction. She pursued the feather, before it landed in front of her. She squatted down to pick it up, running her fingers along it smooth edges.

"Euphy…do you recognize my voice?" a voice asked.

She straightened up, although she didn't turn. "No, I've never heard it before," she answered honestly.

A pair of arms came around her, and she looked down to see one was metallic, the other thick and muscled. She stiffened when her hair was lifted up and warm lips played with the nape of her neck. "But you've visited me so many times in my dying dreams, then you revived me with your power. You're like an angel of life, while I am your black-winged angel."

"I don't remember that."

"You asked to see someone and you came to my dream, a year ago. I told you that I wouldn't be alive much longer, but you wanted to see anyone, to ease the pain. You were so lonely, you said, so you promised to meet me in the real world and brought me back to life, telling me that I was to search for you and that you would be here, on Gaea, in one year to come."

"I couldn't have made that prediction, when I didn't even know what or where Gaea was. I couldn't have known this far into the future."

"You've changed and matured in ways I never would've imagined, Euphy…"

"Since you already know my name, what's yours?"

"Folken Lacour de Fanel."

A single black feather floated in front of her eyes, making her memory spark anew. She couldn't believe that she'd had contact with this world so long ago, and Folken…in the dream world, they were _lovers_.

_Euphimia sat in her dream, against a folding screen, wearing her sleeping yukata. Her eyes widened a little when the scene changed slightly and a man at least ten years older than she was with shaggy teal hair, magenta eyes, and pale skin lie in front of her, bleeding badly from a wound to the heart. Black bird wings were crumpled beneath him, as if he'd fallen from a great height._

"_Who…are you…?" the injured man asked, his eyes half-mast from the pain and weakness._

"_Euphimia of the Dreamweaver line, but you can call me Euphy. Yours?"_

"_F…Folken Lacour de Fanel…first prince of Fanelia… Where…am I?"_

"_You're in a dream, I seem to have been able to pass into your dream through my desire to see someone in my lonely world of dreams."_

"_I don't…have much time…I'm dying, you see…"_

"_Then this must be your final dream before your death… I'm so sorry to have interrupted."_

"_No!" Folken protested, as she began to fade. "Don't go! I didn't mean to offend you!"_

_She came back, placing her hand into his outstretched one. "Folken-san, what caused you to get such a wound?"_

"_I killed someone and the tip of my sword snapped off and ricocheted back into my heart before I could do anything to block or dodge it. You don't seem very affected by my saying so, Euphy-san."_

"_No, because I've seen many deaths, because of my ability to see the future through my dreams. Many people I was close to died within my dreams, and in real life, as I watched helplessly. Some of those were very hard to watch, so yours seems rather tame in comparison."_

_He suddenly pulled her forward so she was leaning over him. "Euphy-san, as a dying wish, would you give me the pleasure of being your first?"_

"_Have you…?"_

"_No, this will be my first too."_

"_As a dying wish, I'll honor it."_

_In the aftermath, she laid with her yukata spread over the both of them, his real arm draped over shoulders. She now felt like she was complete, but with him dying, she would no longer want to live without this kind soul. So, using power reserves that she didn't think she had, she murmured, "I won't let you die, Folken. I will be too lonely, so in a year's time, meet me in Fanelia, and we'll both be alive and well. Do you promise?"_

_He smiled up at her, cradling her cheek. "I promise, Euphy."_

"I…I remember… When we met, how we made love…how I saved you…"

"That was only in my dream. I want for us to be together for always now, so I ask for you to be my wife."

As he said this, he swept around her so he was on one knee in front of her, holding her left hand in his. His ebony wings were folded in the small space between the two buildings, his eyes sincere as he held out one of his feathers. Her heart began to beat quickly, making her cheeks flush. Her lips twitched, before a soft smile came to them.

"Yes, I would love to be your wife, Folken Lacour de Fanel," she accepted, taking his feather and tucking it into her sleeve.

His smile mirrored hers, but with more glee. He lifted her up bride-style, kissing her passionately. She stiffened at her first real life kiss, before sighing in bliss. He parted with her, holding her closer. "My angel of life, Euphy."

"My black-winged angel, Folken."

He set her down, as Merle's voice called, "Euphy! Euphy, where did you go?"

She turned to see Merle running down the alleyway, before she stopped dead, her eyes widening. "Folken-sama?! Is that you?! Bu-but you're dead!"

With a flurry of black feathers, his dark wings vanished, before he pulled his shirt on, like the tunics Van usually wore, except his was a deep blue. "Yes Merle, it's me."

Tears came to her eyes and she cried, "Van-sama will be so glad to see you're not dead! But first, we have to get Euphy fitted for some clothes that suit her as her status as a special guest in the castle!"

Let's just say that the fitting didn't go very well, since most of Fanelian nobility clothes had sleeves hanging off the shoulders or dipped low on the collar and/or back, and Euphimia hated exposing more skin than she did already with her kimono, but then Folken would step in and say that the dresses looked rather flattering on her, and then Merle would protest that he was looking far too much for a person who barely knew her. He then whispered to the seamstress, who looked at him in question, before he nodded to her.

While they were walking back to the castle, Merle lowered her ears as she glared at Folken. "You might've helped with the process of getting her fitted into proper gowns, but your eyes wandered way too much for a gentleman! If I didn't know better, you were thinking in a perverted way!"

Folken merely smiled, not denying or confirming her accusations. Once he was married to his angel, he would be able to look at her however he wanted and not be criticized. She was absolutely beautiful to him, like an angel fallen from heaven. Everything about her was glorious, and he couldn't wait for their wedding night, when she would be all his.

Euphimia's cheeks were stained red as she realized Merle was right. Folken hadn't hidden that he still found her attractive, even after all this time that they hadn't seen each other. She fidgeted a little with her obi, which was tied in a simple bow. The things she did so that she wouldn't be lonely anymore.

"Euphy, you should slap him for looking at you like he was! If you don't want to yourself, I could scratch his face!" Merle encouraged.

"I didn't really notice until you said so, Merle-san. Besides, why would he look at me in that manner? We just met today," the yellow-eyed girl tried to dissuade.

"Maybe he thinks you're really pretty for a girl from the Mystic Moon! Besides, why would you like him for? He's many years your senior!"

"Has that stopped anyone from marrying here before?"

"Well no, but he's old enough to be your older brother! And whoever said anything about marriage?"

"I was just giving an example."

Folken, who was walking behind them, smirked, since he knew that his fiancé was trying to cover up the fact that they were engaged, in the Draconian way. She'd taken his feather, and if she'd had any, then she would've given him one in return. She loved his black wings, even if they were caused by the fate alteration particles in his body. That was why she'd made up the nickname "black-winged angel". It was unoriginal, but he liked it.

When they entered the castle courtyard, many of the older guards took a double take, shocked to see their first prince not only alive, but back at the castle after eleven years. The guards at the front doors moved to stop them.

"Merle-sama, we can't let you through, for all we know, he's a doppelganger."

Folken stepped forward, smiling. "Surely you think I don't know the ways of the doppelganger? One thing a doppelganger doesn't have when he takes over a person's form is their memories, and he only takes on the flesh of the one he copies, so how would you explain this, that I received when I defected to Zaibach?" He raised his mechanical arm, before he stated, "My mother, the late Queen Varie, would not approve that her eldest son was welcomed so coldly."

The name of the former queen of Fanelia had been a well-protected secret in the country, so it was nearly impossible for a doppelganger to know such a fact unless he'd infiltrated far into the society of Fanelians. The guards knew this, so they stepped aside, bowing.

"Your highness, welcome back."

For the first time in eleven years, Folken entered the castle proper. He let Merle lead to the throne room, where Van was at the time. They were lucky it was empty at the time besides the king himself, so they had a private meeting. Van stood up, shocked at the sight of his brother, _alive_, when he'd been absolutely sure that he'd been _dead_. His eyes quivered as he tried to take in the image of his older brother, still living and breathing, _real_ and in front of him.

Folken held out his arms and smiled his gentle smile. "Van, it's been a year. Come here."

Tears gathered in the monarch's eyes and he cried, "Onii-chan!" before running across the room and into his brother's embrace.

Merle started to cry as well at the touching reunion, Euphimia unsure what to do in this situation, shifting her weight as she waited for her fiancée to finish. Her eyes showed her discomfort the most, since she wasn't used to such raw emotion directed at anyone, let alone someone she knew.

Van sobbed for a few moments before he looked up at his only sibling, eyes still disbelieving. "How? I _knew_ you were dead, Onii-chan!"

"If you want an explanation, ask Euphy."

Euphimia clasped her hands together nervously as Van turned to her, his happiness so strong she could hardly bear it directed at her, although disbelief was there as well. "Euphy-san? _You_ did something? I thought you said you'd never tried to change anything you dreamed about!"

"Um…I didn't remember until I met him again, but I entered his dying dream and somehow used my powers to revive him before he was gone from this world. I wanted…to at least save one person…instead of watching him die in front of my eyes…even if I didn't know him very well at the time…"

She went stiff as a board when he suddenly hugged her, murmuring, "I thank you, a thousand times. If there's anything you want, it's yours."

"But…I couldn't do that…"

Folken placed his hands on her shoulders. "Van, I want your blessing as the king of our country on my engagement to Euphy. If you give it, then I can do what I wish and the council can't say a word about it without getting banished from Fanelia."

"You…" Merle looked between them and gasped. "You're _engaged_?! When did this happen?! When did you fall in love?! How could you know each other long enough?!"

Van smiled and nodded. "I heartily give my blessing, Onii-chan. Euphy-san needs someone like you in her life. Treat her well and protect her, because I fear that if her gift is discovered by our enemies, they'll seek to capture her at any cost."

"I understand that completely, but her abilities as a dream-seer cannot be controlled, so it would be worthless to them, even if they tried everything."

"You know what'll happen if they figure that out, and she's engaged or married to you. They'll hold her hostage so they can get to both of us, since she's important to you, thus me and also our country. They might demand my death or yours, or a ransom of an unimaginable amount. Any sons she has will be next in line should I die childless, so her presence here is very complicated, especially if the council decides to support you more than me, Onii-chan. Your return might make things extremely difficult for me."

"Then I will step down as prince and become your advisor, Van. I don't want to be favored over you because I'm the eldest son. The people love you and think of me as the disgraced prince, because I not only failed in slaying a dragon, I abandoned Fanelia, ordered the attack to destroy it, supported Emperor Dornkirk until nearly the end of the Destiny War, and nearly had you, the rightful king, killed. I have many things against me, while you have none that would offend the people. The council, perhaps, but not our people."

"I'm too young, I refuse to take a wife so that I may have an heir, I go against nearly everything the council suggests to do things my own way, and I'm Otou-sama's son through and through. I think they liked the idea of you being king more than me, so they were very disappointed when you failed the rite of dragon slaying."

"You're the king, and I'm not, Van. There's nothing the council can do to change that. You were crowned king and that's how it's going to stay, no matter how stubborn you are."

* * *

Okay, you know the drill...

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Here's the new chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

Later that day, Folken did the ceremony of getting engaged to Euphimia. "Euphimia, of the Dreamweaver line, will become my wife in a month's time, as certain as this ring is on her finger. I, Folken Lacour de Fanel, first prince of Fanelia, take her as my fiancé and swear never to know her until our wedding night."

He slid the gold signet ring on her finger, the symbol of Fanelian royalty glinting proudly in the center. She gazed up at him with love in her eyes, her heart beating like a hummingbird's wings. He smiled at her, before they waved to the people of Fanelia, who cheered at the return of their prince and that he now had a fiancé.

Now came the hard part.

They entered the council chamber, Van already sitting at the head of the table.

"This is preposterous! The king should always be married before the prince!"

"Van-sama, we cannot allow Folken-sama to marry before you have chosen a wife!"

"You have no say in this!" Van snapped. "I gave Onii-chan my blessing and as king I say that he can marry before me!"

"But your majesty—"

"The law that the king is supposed to marry before any other child of the former king was rid of when King Goau was still alive, was it not? He did so in the foresight that if I'd become king and didn't find a wife right away but Van did, he'd be able to marry the girl before I even selected a queen," Folken interrupted, his stance regal as he pointed out the hole in the argument.

"But Van-sama must have an heir before you do, Folken-sama! That is a law that wasn't annulled!"

"So if your wife becomes with child before the queen does, she must be beheaded!"

Both Folken and Van gritted their teeth. There was only one that Van would take as a wife and she wouldn't want to come back to Gaea just to become his queen. Two girls from the Mystic Moon would make the other countries uneasy, and Hitomi would never agree to it unless she had her affairs in order. Also for the reason that she would have to have a child right away so that Euphimia could become pregnant at all, that would sour her decision to come back as well. Things would become harder and harder as days went by, and everything would break sooner or later.

Euphimia felt an important vision coming on, and her eyes dropped shut, her body going limp as Folken noticed her doing so, her head smacking against the hard wood of the table before he could catch her.

_Van approached Hitomi on Earth, holding his hand out to her. "Hitomi, I love you so much it hurts. Would you come back to Gaea to become my wife and queen?"_

_The short-haired teen considered for a few moments, before a smile came to her features. "Of course, Van! I would love to marry you, but…I have a question…"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Have you seen any pillars of light lately? My friend, Euphy-chan, has gone missing and she spoke of having dreams about being on Gaea. Is she there?"_

"_She's safe and sound. She arrived just outside of Fanelia and has changed the lives of everyone in the castle with her presence. She's become good friends with Merle and I, and she would be glad to have you be there with her."_

"_To think she actually hasn't brought bad luck to Fanelia, I'm surprised, since she's had a bout of bad dreams lately. Before I go, you have to bring her back to at least assure her family she's not dead. They're still mourning her death, since they think she was taken by the Shinigami directly to the afterlife."_

"_That's your only condition?"_

"_Yes, that's it, Van."_

_They hugged and he pulled away to kiss her cheek. "Thank you, Hitomi. I believe you'll be an excellent queen to rule at my side and my people will be overjoyed you're back. _I'm_ overjoyed that you'll be coming back to stay with me."_

"_By the time you get back here, I'll be ready to leave."_

"EUPHY! EUPHY!" Folken shouted, looking scared to death because she'd collapsed so suddenly.

Her eyes opened and she looked up at him, a faint smile on her face. "Folken…tell Van to go get Hitomi-chan… the future of him asking her to come here is very optimistic."

Folken brightened and looked up at his younger brother. "Go to the Mystic Moon, Euphy says that she just had a dream that Hitomi's reaction will be favorable."

The council of men gaped at what just happened.

"Euphimia-sama is a seer as well?"

"Why weren't we informed of this?"

"Because you didn't need to know," Folken stated. "Her visions cannot be controlled, and she must be asleep to have them. She is a dream-seer, after all."

Van smiled and ran over to Euphimia, hugging her the second time that day. "Thank you again, I now owe you twice because of your power."

"You're welcome, Van-san."

He left, Folken taking her hand and turning out of the room, as well.

"You should've told me that your power can cause you to pass out like that. I thought you'd died."

"I'm sorry, I didn't have time to. It frightened my parents too when I was a child and I would just fall over, so at the time I was old enough to go to school, they had to say I had a condition that caused me to do that, instead of my dream-seer ability."

"Let's just hope it doesn't happen during the wedding, or else people will think you locked your knees and fainted from nervousness."

"At least next time you should be prepared."

"Hopefully."

* * *

The pair spent the next hour walking through the gardens, just relishing in the other's presence. She would shyly look at him and he would smile softly at her, no words had to be said. The perfect peace was broken when Van came running, looking happy as a kid at Christmas. He stopped in front of them and announced, "Hitomi agreed to coming back here!"

"That's wonderful, Van," Folken congratulated. "Why isn't she here with you, then?"

"She has to get ready, but she also gave me a condition."

"What's that?"

Euphimia spoke, as if she'd been there. " 'You have to bring Euphy-chan back to at least assure her family she's not dead.'," she quoted, from her dream. "I'll come with you to do so, although we may just have to make a hasty escape, because once my family, especially my parents, learn that I was brought to an actual other world and not heaven, they'll want to keep me because I'm still underage. I suppose Hitomi might have a few problems as well, because of her age. But I can only hope for the best."

She took Van's hand and a pillar of light took them to where Van and Hitomi were supposed to meet, their feet landing silently on the concrete of the sidewalk. Just as they did, Hitomi came running, a duffel bag over her shoulder.

"Van! Euphy-chan!"

Hitomi hugged her friend. "I thought I'd never see you again! So your dreams were about Gaea! Come on, we have to tell your parents you're not dead!"

"Would they believe me?"

The question made Hitomi pause. She turned back, having had started to walk towards her friend's house. "What do you mean?"

"I'm fine with them believing I'm dead, and they were fine with me dying, if that was what my dreams led me to. If it's one less thing to worry about, I'd rather they not know I'm alive."

"…why not?"

"Because once they see me, they'll make sure I can't leave until I give a full explanation, but even then, my freedom isn't certain. I was fated to go to Gaea, so that's where I'm going to stay. If I did get stuck here, I'd be miserable like I've always been, if not worse."

"I don't know what you mean."

"I've fallen in love with one of Gaea's locals. In fact, I'm engaged to him right now."

"So you don't want to abandon him…who is he?"

Van smiled and placed a hand on his love's shoulder. "You won't believe it, but it's Onii-chan."

"Folken? But I saw him die! How did he survive when he had such a wound?"

Euphimia shrugged. "Somehow I kept him alive, reviving him when he was at his last breath. We've fallen in love and in a month's time will marry. I suppose your marriage to Van-san will overshadow ours, but I don't care, really. You will be king and queen, after all."

Van took the girls' hands. "So Hitomi, shall we go?"

"Yes, I want to go with you and spend the rest of my life with you, Van."

A pillar of light descended and took them up, Euphimia's soft smile appearing as she landed in Folken's arms. She held him tight, whispering, "I'll never leave you again, Folken."

He kissed her cheek and nodded. "And I will never let you, Euphy."

Hitomi smiled at the sight of her friend feeling something other than deep sadness. "Van, when did they get engaged? She's only been here two days."

"They were engaged an hour ago, after I gave my blessing on Onii-chan's choice of wife."

"They seem to have a soft love for each other."

"They are rather gentle people, both rather quiet and wise."

"I hope everything can go all right with them, because I would hate either of them to be heartbroken."

* * *

Another chapter...no reviews...**sigh**...

Well, that's okay, because I love what I do!

Please review!

"Me too, Hitomi."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Well, here we are again, another chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

A week later, Folken had decided to go to the library to read, and while he was in the middle of a novel, Euphimia came in, wearing one of her new dresses, one of a midnight blue with a night sky pattern on the front. She sat down next to him on the couch where he sat, her gloved hand finding his free one. He looked up from his reading and smiled.

"Was there something you wanted, my love?"

She merely reclined on the couch and placed her head in his lap, facing away from him so he could comb his fingers through her hair, which he automatically did. She sighed, closing her eyes as relaxation overtook her.

"You've been taking more naps than usual, so I've heard, Euphy. Are more important visions coming to you?"

She nodded, humming a little. "I've seen many things further and further into the future, but none are troubling to me. We'll have a beautiful baby within the year, our marriage will go smoothly, you'll assist Van in doing many things to help Fanelia prosper as it gets rebuilt…"

As she fell silent, Folken's smile softened as he realized that she'd fallen asleep while talking. "Rest, my love, and tell me of your dream when you wake."

**Warning: This dream has a graphic surgery scene. If you don't like it, skip please!  
**

"_Are you sure you want to do this, Euphy?" Folken asked, voice pained. "Because you know I said it would be painful."_

"_Yes, I want to be like you in every way, including this," she answered calmly, without the slightest quiver in her voice._

"_Very well, I'll try to be quick, but this is a very precise and delicate operation. Now I need you to be still as much as you can on your own so Van doesn't have to hurt you to keep you down. Also, there isn't anything we have to help you relax, so you will feel everything that's done."_

_She nodded, as Van placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'll do my best to keep her from thrashing, Onii-chan. Merle and Hitomi will keep everyone out as long as they can, but her ladies maids will be very concerned if they hear her screaming like she'll be prone to do."_

"_She won't just scream, she'll try her hardest to get away from the pain."_

"_Then we should knock her out!"_

"_We can't, she has to be awake for this, you know that as well as I."_

"_Let's just get this over with, so she doesn't have to suffer more than she has to!"_

_A sharp, stabbing sensation blossomed in the area between her right shoulder blade and spine. It dragged for several inches before stopping, before repeating on the left side._

_From the very first, Euphimia clenched her teeth, before succumbing to the urge of voicing her pain. A scream unlike anything the two men had heard in their lifetimes rang through the room, the door, and through that entire section of the castle. It was only broken when she had to breathe, but continued once she had regained enough oxygen. Her body instinctively tried to thrash, but Van kept her still as he could, making sure Folken didn't make a mistake._

_The next part hurt even more, when it was made worse by making the cuts wider. Folken carefully did so, but it didn't make it any better. He inserted one of his feathers, then one of Van's, into each side. He then began to sew the incisions shut, his stitches close together and tight, but not tight enough to pucker the skin._

_Throughout all this, not a single tear escaped her eyes. Her shrieks turned to whimpers as the sewing was finished and bandages were wrapped around her upper torso. She fell limp on the bed, tremors still going through her frame as she gasped for air._

"_It's done."_

"_Yes, more efficiently than how our ancestors did it. She should stay in bed until the wounds are completely closed, or else they might open again."_

"_What about the wedding? It's in two weeks."_

"_We'll have to see if she's healed enough by then."_

"_I do hope so."_

"Euphimia-sama!" cried one of her ladies maids.

Euphimia jerked up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She sat up, covering her mouth to hide a yawn. Folken chuckled, as he saw her tired face.

"You shouldn't be seen in such a position with your betrothed, shame! For shame! Come away immediately before someone important sees you!"

The pale-haired young woman stood and stretched a little, her back popping. It was then that she remembered what she would have to do to make this future happen. She turned to Folken and whispered, "I want to be Draconian, so we can have more generations of Draconian children."

His eyes widened as she was dragged away, although there was a smile on her face.

* * *

Later, when dinner was being served, Folken demanded, "Why would you want that? The procedure is very painful and you would be laid up in bed until everything was healed."

Hitomi, who didn't know what he was talking about, asked, "What's the matter? Something's very painful? Van, do you know what Folken's talking about?"

Van nodded. "Euphy-san wants to become Draconian, but Folken doesn't want to grant what she wants."

"So you can turn humans into Draconians?"

"Draconians are technically humans with wings, so it isn't too hard."

Folken shook his head. "If we had the technology of Zaibach, perhaps I would consider, but without anything for the pain, it would be too hard for you to handle staying awake for, Euphy."

"I should be fine, I've seen it," she reasoned.

"You've seen that I go through with this madness? I would _never_ subject you to such pain!"

"So having children is a walk in the park, is it?"

"You don't have any choice but to go through the pain of childbirth, but what you're asking me to do to you purposefully is beyond what I would do to _anyone_, let alone you, my fiancée!"

"I've heard that Draconian women handle giving birth to Draconian children better than human women do. The extra stress of the wings that don't retract during the process ought to be more painful and life-threatening to me if I stay human."

"Wherever you learned that, you aren't playing the victim, Euphy. You would give birth to our children, it wouldn't matter if you're human or not."

Hitomi interrupted, looking rather worried. "I think she has a point, Folken. I suppose your mother had an easier time than either of us will have while giving birth to Draconian children."

Van hid his red face in his hands, not wanting to take any part in this conversation. Why, at the dinner table, did this have to be brought up? Couldn't they have waited until after he'd eaten? Childbirth, of all things! **A/N: Poor Van! I feel for him... Just kidding! lol**

Folken sighed, rubbing his face. "The transition itself is relatively painless, it's the actual procedure of implanting the seeds of the wings into the back that's the hard part."

"As I told you," Euphimia repeated. "I can handle it, I've seen it."

"I think it would be good that at least one of us should be Draconian, Folken," her friend agreed.

"Please, my love?" the pale-skinned girl pleaded, taking his hands across the table.

Having the two women against him in an argument, plus his future wife was pleading with him, it was too much. He sighed and lowered his head, murmuring, "You win, Euphy. But don't be crying for anesthesia when I'm in the middle. And Hitomi, I won't do the same to you, because if it was found out you were changed to Draconian, the people would be in an uproar. They don't know Van and I are Draconians, and once Euphy becomes one, the secret is going to stay between us, understand?"

The short-haired woman nodded, although she was smiling, wondering if Euphimia's wings would be white or black, once they were grown and were able to spread from her back.

* * *

Any guesses as to the color? Heehee I won't tell you!

Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

I wish I owned it for such a brilliant story it is!

This chapter should be a good one!

Enjoy!

* * *

After the operation was done, Euphimia laid on the bed, recovering from being cut open without painkillers. Hitomi and Merle came in, seeing the girl was deathly pale, making her seem even paler in the moonlight that streamed through the window. Folken wasn't very happy, but now it was done, there was nothing he could do without injuring her further.

"Euphy-chan, how are you feeling?" Hitomi asked, sitting on the side of the bed.

"How do you think? I just went through surgery without being knocked out or given anything for the pain. You'd think those two lunkheads would've thought to give me some kind of liquor to help me relax. What I would do for some sake right now," Euphimia muttered.

Merle snorted. "You brought this on yourself, you know. How long will it take until the cuts are healed?"

"About a week with my healing rate, because of my visions, I should be up and about, feeling just fine. My wings will be able to come out on the day of our two weddings, Hitomi-chan."

"So you've seen it? What color are they?"

"I'm not saying, because I want it to be a surprise when I let them out for all of you to see."

Folken was frowning a little, but he shooed everyone else out of the room, placing a hand on his bride-to-be's lower back. "Euphy, you knew that I couldn't go against your wishes if you pleaded enough, so now that you have what you wanted, do you want me to do something to help the pain recede?"

"Nothing, I should be fine if I get plenty of rest and fluids."

"You're developing a stubborn streak, that isn't good. The next thing I know, you'll want to deliver on the Mystic Moon."

"It wouldn't be wise, considering that our baby will be born with its wings out."

"Do I get to be surprised, or will I get to know before our baby is born what it is?"

"Which would you prefer?"

After he considered it, he smiled. "I'll be surprised, my dear Euphy. I heard you should have your wings out on our wedding day. I want to be the first one to see."

"Of course."

* * *

So, when another week passed, the stitches were removed and she was walking again, although she was taking it easy. Her ladies maids dressed her and brushed her hair, which was growing longer by the day.

"Euphimia-sama, it's so good that you're able to be up and about again. How are you feeling?"

"Still a little weak, but don't worry, I'm fine enough to walk."

"What does it feel like to be Folken-sama's fiancée?"

"I feel like the luckiest person in the world. I always lived in comfort, but to live in a castle as a princess is like a dream I've always had. I don't envy Hitomi-chan, who's to become queen. I may be her friend, but never would I want to have her job as joint-ruler to the king."

"You look lovely in this dress, Euphimia-sama, if I may be so bold."

"It's perfect for you!"

She stood and looked at herself. She'd gotten used to the way the dresses were, although she was still puzzled as to why she needed to wear evening gloves everywhere. This dress was a deep burgundy with a gold floral pattern on the bodice. Her hair was left down, for it was most flattering that way on her. It now reached to just below the curve of her shoulders, hiding the still-healing cuts that were exposed by the dress.

"I wonder if Folken will like this new dress I'm wearing for the first time today, since I do seem to have an endless supply of them, thanks to Merle."

"I think Folken-sama will find you breathtaking, Euphimia-sama!"

"I agree, Euphimia-sama!"

So she walked to Folken's study, knocking lightly on the door. Her ladies maids hovered, making sure she didn't pass out from the strain. She might pass out, but not from that. They'd learned about her "fainting spells" and kept within arm's reach of her while she recuperated.

"Enter."

She stepped inside, seeing him working on some documents that Van had left for him. He'd gotten over having to mutilate her for her desires, but he still was a little wary of her when she pleaded to him for anything.

"Good morning, Folken."

He turned to her and smiled a little, although not as fondly as he had before. "Good morning, Euphy."

She walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders. "I know that although you've been attentive of me while I'm healing and I know this whole ordeal has driven a wedge into our relationship. Would it help to say that I'm sorry?"

His voice changed from civil to terse in a second. "You took advantage of my kind nature, Euphy. You knew that I wouldn't be able to stand up to your pleading. It's a weakness I have and it isn't fair that I haven't found yours, and even if I had, I wouldn't exploit it as you have mine."

She lowered her head and knew this would have to come to groveling. It would show she was truly sorry, even though she knew she'd meant to play on his compassion to get him to give in. She would do anything to have this gone and forgotten. She lowered herself on hands and knees, sinking down so her head was parallel to the floor. She closed her eyes and stated in her most lowly tone, "My most kind and gracious Folken-dono, I beg for your forgiveness, at any cost to me. Anything you ask for, I will give, just for you to pardon me of this offense."

Her ladies maids gaped at what their lady was doing, even if it was Prince Folken. The king, they would understand, but humbling herself for the one who was supposed to be her equal, it was humiliating. If he brushed this off, they would complain to the king about this outrage. Plus, she was dirtying her dress on the floor.

Folken, who knew that her doing this was out of the ordinary, knew that it would be cruel to stay mad at her, although he felt that she had to have some sort of punishment for causing him to suffer the guilt of intentionally hurting her. "I forgive you, only if you give me one thing in return."

She raised herself up, but kept her head low. "Anything for Folken-dono."

He got onto his knees in front of her and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "On our wedding night, you will not fall asleep once."

She blushed, but nodded. "Yes, Folken-dono."

He took her hands and pulled her up, kissing her forehead, nose, then each cheek. "Euphy, I trust you won't do it again, or else it'll take an even harsher penance than this one."

"On my honor as a dream-seer."

"I love you, my Euphy-chan."

She closed her eyes as he held her close, rubbing her lower back. "I love you too, Folken."

He took her hand and led her out the door, murmuring, "You look lovely in that dress, my angel. Is it new?"

"With how many Merle ordered for me, it probably is."

Keeping up with her slow pace, he felt sorry for her ladies maids, who had to follow a couple steps behind her. They were very meddlesome, even though it was required for them to take care of her until the wedding, just in case she became weaker. They were just concerned, that was all. He just thought how they hovered was annoying. He didn't have any servants following him, but he could protect himself, he was trained to be a great swordsman. She wasn't trained in any such things, because she didn't need to.

He watched how she walked, straight and tall, but not such that she would outshine him. She'd learned the way of the Japanese wife: a shadow of her husband. She loved him and spoke her mind, but she carried herself as an inferior to him. He didn't like it, but for now, he would take it. She was still rather uneasy about expressing her emotions strongly, used to being rather blank and melancholy. Public gestures of affection still embarrassed her somewhat, but at least she allowed him to kiss her like he had in front of her ladies maids.

The wedding would prove interesting in the least.

* * *

So, a week later, her wings were fully grown inside her back, but she had no time to spread them, because her ladies maids instantly began dressing her in her wedding dress and floor-length veil, which were divine on her, to say the least. They were the Fanelian style, but with a European flair that she'd wanted. She was escorted by a group of guards, meeting Folken at the altar, as he took her hands. Their wedding was quick and simple, an exchanging of vows, unlike what Van and Hitomi's would be like, because he was the king marrying his queen, so it had to be an extravagant event. They would share the banquet and ball, although both the queen and princess would have to stay covered, because they were supposed to not be revealed until the wedding night.

The most beautiful ring was slipped on her finger, the signet ring placed on the index finger instead.

"I, Prince Folken Lacour de Fanel, do solemnly swear to love, cherish, and be loyal to my death to my wife, Euphimia of the Dreamweaver line."

She smiled behind the veil and knew it was her turn.

"I, Euphimia of the Dreamweaver line, do solemnly swear to love, cherish, and be loyal to my death to my husband, Prince Folken Lacour de Fanel."

Now that they were married, the priest lifted a gold and crystal crown from a royal blue pillow. "I now dub thee Princess Euphimia Yume de Fanel, of Fanelia." He placed the crown on her head, although it was just for formal occasions, most of the time she would wear a circlet showing she was princess.

They then stepped aside for Hitomi and Van's marriage, which was longer (in all their opinions, more boring), more detailed, and the crowning of the new queen was more complicated than the crowning of a princess. During the ceremony, Euphimia dropped off into a nap, just to pass the time.

_"__Hitomi-chan, are you pregnant?" Euphimia asked, sounding nervous as she walked into the queen's chambers._

_"__Not yet, why?" Hitomi answered, looking up from a book she was reading._

_"__Because I am, and I'm not supposed to be."_

_"__It's only been three weeks since our wedding nights. How could you get pregnant right away?"_

_"__Maybe it's because I'm Draconian. Maybe Draconians are more fertile."_

_"__This is bad, very bad!" the dirty-blonde teen lamented. "The law that you can't get pregnant before me is still in effect! If it's found out by anyone except us, then you'll get executed! Have you told Folken yet?"_

_"__No, I haven't, because I'm scared. I don't want to die."_

_"__I'll have to do something so that I get pregnant fast, or else you'll have to go into hiding."_

_"__Even if you were to try hard now, you'll still be at least two weeks after me. The difference will be noticed, especially when I go into labor."_

_Hitomi hugged her best friend tight. "I'll have to talk to Van about it, because this might take some measures on Earth to get me pregnant right away. Okay, I have to get going now, or else someone might hear."_

_"__Wait, maybe we should both go get blood tested, because these old pregnancy tests might be wrong."_

_"__Come on, we'll have to take Van and Folken with us, or else it would look weird at the hospital, two girls our age getting pregnancy tests, me hoping for a yes and you a no."_

_They rushed out of the room to talk to their husbands._

Her eyes snapped open, even though she didn't know what happened after that. She had to do something to change it, but what? Not have her wedding night with Folken? He would wonder why, since this is what they'd been waiting for a month. She must be more sexually active with Folken the first night than Hitomi with Van, or what she'd said in her vision was true: Draconians were more fertile than humans. Either way, she was basically signing her death sentence being married the same time as the new queen of Fanelia. She was so thankful for the veil at this time, or Folken would see her melancholy face back on again. She would have to fix this before the wedding night was scheduled. They'd set it up that the superior royal couple had a couple hours more, even though it might be seen as anxiousness to get away from the dull reception they were going to have.

Van and Hitomi were being cheered on by everyone, until they were able to leave towards the banquet hall. Folken stood with his new bride, who tried to catch up with Hitomi, but he pulled her back. "You can talk with them later, Euphy. Both of us have our duties to do at the banquet and those come first."

They greeted each of the guests, even the ones they didn't care for. Everyone here she didn't really know at all, since this was her first time on Gaea. She kept a smile on her face, but was surprised when a knight in blue with long blonde hair took her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Princess Euphimia, I'm pleased to finally meet you. Van has written me letters about you, but now that I've met you in person, you seem like a very gentle person, just like your husband."

She blinked, tilting her head to the side. "Your name, sir? I don't think you introduced yourself."

"Sir Allen Schezar of the Asturian Knights of Heaven. I'm here as escort to Princess Millerna, and I'm a good friend to the king and queen."

Folken nodded. "Allen, it's good to see you again."

"I never believed any of Van's letters saying that you were back, but now that I've seen you in person, it must be true, Folken. May your life be long and prosperous now that you've been given a second chance."

"Um, Sir Allen, would you give this to Hitomi-chan for me? It's urgent," Euphimia interrupted, holding out a piece of paper folded into quarters.

"Of course, Princess. I'll do so right away," Allen vowed, taking the note and bowed his farewell.

Folken looked down at her. "You'll be able to talk with her in the morning, Euphy. What's so important that you need to have Allen play the courier between you two?"

"I'm sorry, it's something concerning Hitomi-chan and myself. If it becomes serious, I'll tell you."

"We've just been married and already you're hiding something from me? Did you have a vision during Van and Hitomi's wedding?"

"Please, just trust me on this, I can't tell you right now."

Before Folken could protest, Merle ran up to them. "Folken-sama, Euphy, you have to open up the first dance with Van-sama and Hitomi! Get out there!"

They walked out, dancing in time with Van and Hitomi. He then looked down at his wife. "Euphy, if it's concerning you, I should know. We are together through everything, so please, if it's that important, you need to tell me first."

She said nothing, since he couldn't see her through the veil.

After a few dances, Hitomi came over, taking her now sister-in-law's hand and taking her out on one of the balconies, making sure no one saw them before lifting her veil. When Euphimia did the same, she saw her sad face and hugged her close. "Euphy-chan, what's happened? Did you have a vision of something horrible?"

"During your wedding ceremony, I had a dream where I get pregnant before you and I fear my next dream will be that of my execution."

Tears came to Hitomi's eyes and she asked, "What are we gonna do? You can't refuse Folken when it's your wedding night! You two have waited for this since your engagement! It isn't fair for either of you!"

"But this is a law that the king has to make a motion to eradicate it and the council votes. They won't even put it to consideration! They want that law to make Van-san and Folken miserable! I should've never asked him to make me this way!"

"We'll have to do something to fool them into thinking that I got pregnant before you, since we can get something done on Earth, if after we're both tested that I'm negative and you're positive. We know that after tonight if things go as well as I think they will, I can convince Van to stay with me for a few days on a short honeymoon. How far into the future is this vision going to come true?"

"Three weeks from tonight. We have pregnancy tests that you brought from Earth, so after two weeks, you'll have to check, Hitomi. Van-san might think you're being weird, but don't let him know what you're doing."

"Okay."

"Hitomi! It's time for us to go!" Van called, people laughing in the background.

Hitomi gave her friend a last hug before pulling her veil back down and going out to her new husband. Euphimia tugged hers down over her front as well, but turned out towards the night, looking at the Mystic Moon and its child, sighing in exasperation. If only things didn't have to turn out this way, but then her vision of having a baby with Folken wouldn't come true, in fact, her life would be forfeit, unless she ran away to Earth. But where would she go from there? Her family thought she was dead and she didn't have very many friends she could live with, and living on her own was out of the question, because she didn't have any money and she wouldn't be able to work very long, especially after the baby was born. But her giving birth to a winged baby would cause mayhem and both she and the baby would be taken by the government and tested on as freaks. Things just got better and better in her mind as she imagined more and more horrible things that could happen if she had the baby on Earth.

She gasped, as Folken laid his hands on her shoulders. "You're shivering, my love. Come inside where it's warm."

He pulled her inside, where she was swept into a dance with him. "I can tell you're stewing over this, that it's troubling you more than you want to admit to me. Does it have something to do with our wedding night? Does an assassin try to kill one of us?"

She shook her head, her heart clenching as she held herself back from telling him. She wanted to tell him everything, but then he would abstain and their relationship would suffer even more because both of them would worry far more than they should that if they had their wedding night, she would get killed. Her body ached for him, every fiber of her being craved his attention. It would drive her mad to abstain when she wanted to show him how much she loved him this night.

He seemed to sense her greater anxiety over his questions, so he just held her closer. "If my concern upsets you, I'll leave it alone for now, but you'll warn me when it's going to happen in return, promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

She didn't deserve Folken in the least. If things went from bad to worse, she would be causing him the worst pain he'd felt, even when he was dying of a wound to the heart. At least that one had been only physical.

* * *

Another chapter finished, how is everyone liking it?

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

After a long break, for which I apologize (sickness sucks), here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

Two weeks passed, and she didn't have any worse visions, but then Hitomi began testing herself. After giving herself the first test, she looked at the results. She sighed in disappointment, shaking her head.

"I'm not pregnant from all those nights. How couldn't I be? I've been dragging Van to bed every night."

She saw Euphimia's hands trembling, tears dribbling down her cheeks. "So I am to die, then…"

"You must be pregnant, because I've never seen you cry before. Come on, we have to put Plan B into action, making a baby in a Petri dish. Van probably won't understand, but we have to convince him to come with us."

"I'll bring Folken too, just in case the blood tests prove that I am pregnant and you're not. I'll need a shoulder to cry on."

They moved quickly to the throne room, where they knew that Van and Folken were holding an audience with a few of the nobles that were having some trouble with their underlings. They entered quickly, making sure they were unhindered. Folken spotted his wife at once, looking concerned at her tear-streaked cheeks. He asked her what was wrong with his eyes, and she all but ran to him, putting her arms around him. At this action, the nobles protested.

"Van-sama! This is improper! The princess has no say in these matters, so she must leave!"

"Have her escorted out!"

Folken stared the men down. "I will never deny my wife anything, improper or not. Van would never do that to his sister and friend, either. Be silent until this matter is attended to."

Hitomi came forward as well, taking Van's hand. "Van, there's something important that we have to report to you in private. Please, we need to retire to a quieter place."

The look in her eyes convinced him that it was urgent, so he nodded. "We'll continue this discussion at a later time, both Onii-chan and I have pressing business to attend to with our wives."

Without another word, the quartet left, heading to the roof, where no one dared to disturb the royals. Folken pulled Euphimia away from him and asked gently, "What's the matter, Euphy? You're very upset, I can see it in your eyes."

"I'm pregnant…" she squeaked, before breaking down.

Van's eyes widened as he looked to his wife and queen. "And you're not?"

Hitomi sighed, shaking her head. "We have to do something about this, but it can't be here. We have to go to the Mystic Moon, and we'll guide you the rest of the way."

Both the Fanel men nodded, knowing that it was truth that came from the queen's lips.

Hitomi and Euphimia changed to clothes normal to Earth, the young woman with the paler hair tying her hair up in a ponytail, so she wouldn't be recognized from the back should anyone see them as they entered the hospital. They were in such a rush that they didn't remove their wedding rings or other jewelry, as they went out to meet their husbands. When they came out, Van was wearing his normal casual outfit, while Folken wore a jacket and gloves over his normal blue tunic, to cover his artificial arm.

A pillar of light descended and drew them up, before they landed in the same place they seemed to come to on Earth: the track field of the girls' high school. The two of them began running out of there the moment they regained their footing, their husbands wondering what their hurry was. All too soon they found out.

"Hitomi-chan!" a girl's voice called. "Euphy-chan!"

Hitomi turned right away, smiling. "Hey, Yukari-chan!"

"Where have you been for the past month-and-a-half? Your parents said you'd gone out on your own, but—" The red-haired girl's eyes instantly locked on the glittering gold ring on her hand. "You're married? You're not even eighteen yet, so how did you convince your parents to let you? Those gems on it are huge! It must've cost hundreds of thousands of yen!" **A/N: Not quite sure how much a ring that large would cost, but I suppose quite a bit, maybe even millions of yen, but I'll not get too into it. Continue on!**

The Fanelian queen fidgeted, since she hadn't expected such a confrontation. "Yes, I'm married, Yukari-chan. I have to get somewhere with Euphy-chan really fast, so please, could you save the questions for later?"

"What's going on, you're acting really antsy."

Euphimia grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her away, Van and Folken following.

"Hey! Don't run off like that without explaining things! Hitomi-chan, Euphy-chan! Come on, you're so cruel!"

Without any other interruptions, they arrived at the hospital, Van a little unnerved by the automatic doors, but they walked through the hallways, Euphimia nervous as they entered the OB section. They both went to the front desk, receiving forms they had to fill out, putting in their old addresses and lying about their ages. They only wanted a blood test to see if things were as bad as they could get.

In no time, a nurse came out and called, "Fanel Euphy?"

Folken stood with her, rubbing her shoulders. "It's okay, Euphy. Calm down."

Keeping her breaths even, she followed the nurse to a room, where she sat on a bed and curled up, her head resting on her knees. "I really don't want to be pregnant unless Hitomi-chan is."

"If Hitomi is, we're lucky, if not, we'll stay here for the rest of our lives."

"How can I tear you from Van-kun that way? It isn't fair."

"I vowed to be with you for the duration of our marriage, and we're not calling it off just because our baby was conceived before Van and Hitomi's was."

"But—"

The door opened, and a doctor came in. "Fanel-san, you're in for a pregnancy test?"

She nodded, holding out her arm.

"You look rather stressed. Do you not want to have a baby now?"

"She's just anxious," Folken explained, smiling.

"All women are their first time, so she should be fine. Now just relax and I'll draw some blood and get it tested. I should be back in about half an hour. I suppose you're the father of the baby?"

"Yes, I am her husband."

"Well then, here we go."

Euphimia barely flinched as she was pricked and her blood was drawn. When a bandage was placed on her small wound, she took her arm back, her lips pressed together from the stress.

"If there's a baby, you two should be happy, if not, better luck next time."

"Thank you."

When the other man left, Folken took his wife's hand and smiled. "Euphy, don't be so tense. It's going to be all right either way."

* * *

When the two couples met back in the lobby of the hospital, Van looked a little pale and shaky. Folken snorted at his younger brother's condition and asked, "What happened to you, Van?"

Hitomi giggled. "He fainted when the doctor stuck me with the needle."

"I didn't faint!" the dark-haired king protested.

"Yes you did, because you didn't know what they were doing! You slumped over and fell onto the floor when they drew my blood!"

Folken chuckled. "Always the softer one, little brother."

The sandy-haired young woman beamed as she announced, "The test was wrong, Euphy-chan. I'm pregnant!"

Her best friend gasped. "What?"

"It's true! The doctor said my blood work looked a little odd, but there was no mistaking it, I'm going to have a baby!"

The other girl was so happy she hugged her friend. "I'm so glad, because I'm pregnant too!"

"Did your blood work come up odd too?"

"More than just a little, but it wasn't what they were searching for, so they overlooked it."

Folken smiled and murmured, "This is a joyous occasion, for all of us. We must stage this very carefully when we get back. Hitomi should announce her being with child first, then a couple weeks later, Euphy. Then the council will never know."

Van nodded in agreement. "To think we'll be fathers at around the same time, I just hope Hitomi's is a boy."

"For your sake, Euphy would be better off having a girl."

"Yes, that would be best."

A sudden shriek had everyone within range jump, Euphimia shrinking at the sound, because she knew that shriek. Before she could move, her mother scooped her up in a hug, tears rolling down her face.

"My baby girl! You're alive! How is this possible?"

Folken and Van stepped back, while Hitomi did the opposite. "Yume-san, you're suffocating her with your hug."

The overjoyed woman held her daughter at arms' length and beamed. "You've matured since you disappeared! We all thought the Shinigami had taken you directly from our home, so we had an empty casket! Now you can come home and we'll all be a happy family again!"

"Mother, I can't. Things have changed since I've been gone."

"You're underage and cannot live on your own as you have for the past month-and-a-half! You have school and your family! While you've been gone, we've had to find financial backing from another family because we couldn't give you to their son, who's turning eighteen almost the same time you are!"

"Mother, please, let me speak. I can't stay here with you, because I'm already married."

The older woman shook her head. "You couldn't have gotten married in such a short time, it's impossible! All the planning and everything would take far too long!"

"You're causing a scene, please stop shouting."

"But you're talking crazy, Euphy! We've had ties with this family since we've moved here! We _must_ honor our end of the agreement! If we don't, we'll have to give up Cornelia instead!"

"You never told me that you'd planned on getting me married, Mother. Maybe that's why my dreams led me to a different place, so I wouldn't have to marry a complete stranger. I'm not talking crazy, I _am_ married and I don't care what plans you have by using me as a tool to enrich yourselves. If you don't believe me, ask my _husband_ and father of my baby."

Folken moved forward so he could lay his hands on his wife's shoulders. "You don't seem to be a very good mother to Euphy, Yume-san."

Euphimia's mother turned ashen at the tall man who referred to her daughter in such a familiar tone. "You…you took my daughter without permission from me or my husband! And on top of that, you made her pregnant! I should sue you for more you can afford for doing such a thing to my underage daughter!"

"Whatever charges you wish to bestow on me cannot be given, because we must be leaving now. Van, Hitomi, let's go."

As Euphimia turned to leave, her mother caught her by the arm. "You're coming back home, Euphimia! You won't leave with that man!"

"I've been taken by the Shinigami. Tell that to my father and brother and sister. The angel of death has swept me off my feet and taken me to heaven, and I shall bear his child. I don't know who you are, but my mother wouldn't be so rough with me nor shout at me in such an undignified manner. From this day on, I'm dead to you."

She pulled herself from her mother's grasp and walked away from the shocked woman, taking her husband's hand and smiling up at him.

* * *

As they arrived back on Gaea, Hitomi looked sympathetic. "Now I see why you didn't want to see any of your family. Did you have a feeling that was why you came to Gaea?"

"I knew something was coming, I just never had a dream about it. It was a gut feeling that my future had already been planned for me. I didn't want to be more miserable than I already was, so the fates spun a happier future for me. Even if I had honored my mother's demands, in about nine months, I would've had the marriage canceled anyway because I would've had my pretty winged baby…" the girl trailed off, before starting to bawl.

Folken, who had removed his jacket and gloves, held his wife close. "Euphy, what's the matter?"

"I'm just so happy that I get to keep my life and have our baby."

"I've never seen you cry, so why the sudden tears?"

"I don't know, but it feels wonderful."

Hitomi smiled, knowing that her first three months of pregnancy wouldn't be so gentle as to having her cry more often. Morning or evening sickness, for the first trimester, at least. She just hoped it was the morning, so she could eat enough in the afternoon and evening to keep her weight steady. She'd heard stories from her mother that her morning sickness was so bad that she'd lost several pounds, unable to eat barely enough to compensate, and when she wasn't throwing up, she'd been horribly nauseated. She'd almost not wanted to have another child after having Hitomi, but relented after a few years and had Mamoru.

She just hoped it wasn't that bad, or else she'd have to have Van and Euphimia go to Earth to get saltine crackers every few days.

**

* * *

giggles** How'd you liked this most recent chapter? If you thought it was offensive because they talked about intimate things, believe me, try the fics with _lemons_ in them! Far, _far_ worse than just a few comments.

Anyways, you know, it isn't too hard to leave a comment on my story.

Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Sorry everyone for making you wait so long, I didn't realize it when I read so many other things!

Here you are, another chapter!

Enjoy!

* * *

By the time the first month of Euphimia's pregnancy had come to an end, everyone in the palace knew something was wrong with her. She would burst into tears at the drop of a hat at the latter end of said time and could only have any semblance of comfort if she was held by Folken. It was almost as if the tears she'd had suppressed by her depression all came gushing out at once. The once tearless princess was like a non-stop leaky faucet, her handkerchief had to be washed every few hours so the salt that saturated it wouldn't hurt her eyes. Her ladies maids had to handle it most of the time, so that Folken could do his job as Van's advisor. But once the evening meal came about, he could barely say two words to her before she began to sob into his shirt, many of them ruined by how much she cried and soaked the cloth through, no matter how thick the material.

"Onii-chan, maybe you should just wear one of your old tunics so you don't ruin any more of your nicer shirts that you have to wear during the morning and afternoon," Van suggested one night, as Folken fed himself and his bawling wife, who sat on his lap.

Hitomi, who had discovered (to her relief) that her morning sickness was rather mild, watched her sister-in-law and observed, "You know why human women throw up the first three months, right?"

Euphimia nodded, sniffling. "Y-you mean that this is the Draconian version of that?"

"Maybe, or your body is trying to tell you something."

"You tell me, because I don't know!" the princess wailed, tears flowing down her face like waterfalls. "I'd do anything to stop these wretched tears!"

Hitomi considered that she often cried harder when Folken wasn't around, and her tears nearly stopped when he was being affectionate, trying to fill the seemingly bottomless pit of despair her body was in. A light bulb came on in her head as she realized something. Maybe that was it…even though it embarrassed her to think it was that simple. She wasn't an expert on Draconian pregnancies, or physiology, for that matter, but perhaps that was what Euphimia was lacking and Folken wasn't helping, being too tired from the day to realize it. Her cheeks flushed a little as she looked up at Folken. "Folken, have you been…_affectionate_ with Euphy-chan when you two go to bed at night?"

Euphimia caught her friend's drift immediately and turned bright red, hiding her face in her husband's chest. Yet another awkward conversation at the dinner table, this one was gonna be good.

Folken realized what Hitomi was talking about when he saw his wife's reaction to it. He shifted in his seat and fixed his eyes on his plate as he began to eat at a more vigorous pace than before. He knew she wanted to know, for Euphimia's sake, but he was just as embarrassed as his wife was about the subject. Between bites, he managed a quick, "No," before he began to eat again.

Hitomi nodded in understanding. "Now you know the cause of Euphy-chan's tears. Try it, and maybe tomorrow will be better."

Van sighed, shaking his head. Women were shameless when it came to certain subjects, but this took the cake. At least she hadn't outright said what she'd implied, and hadn't continued on once Folken had understood. He cleared his throat and asked, "Onii-chan, what was it you wanted to tell Euphy-san that you mentioned to me earlier today?"

Hitomi snorted, before beginning to giggle. Euphimia joined in, covering her mouth with her hand to try and muffle it to no avail. "Van, it's all right that you're uncomfortable! We stopped now, so you don't have to change the subject so abruptly!"

Van rubbed his face before stating, "I'm serious about the question, Hitomi. Onii-chan, you did want to tell Euphy-san something, remember?"

"Now I remember, thank you, Van. Euphy, Van and I are going to have a surprise for you and Hitomi that we're working on ourselves for the both of you."

Euphimia brightened. "Really, Folken? I can't wait to find out what it is!"

* * *

Both the women were in tears when they saw what their husbands had created for them. Euphimia gushed, "Folken, they're beautiful!"

"Thank you, Van!" Hitomi chimed in.

The pair of royal men had carved each a wood cradle for their child, even if they would have to wait another eight months for them to be put to use. Euphimia hugged her husband, kissing him in earnest as he held her back. Hitomi smiled at her friend's happiness, sharing a kiss with Van as well.

"Our children will all sleep in this cradle, as many as you want, Euphy," the teal-haired prince proclaimed.

"Thank you, Folken," she whispered, burying her face in his chest.

They all relished in the tender moment, for it could be broken soon after by a servant or someone else.

* * *

I added the last part just now because I realized I'd forgotten what Folken and Van had planned to give their wives! My bad!

Was that touching? Or did it seem kinda corny?

Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, even though I wish I did!

Last chapter Euphy-chan had some...problems with her pregnancy, but should be better in this chapter!

Enjoy this latest installment!

* * *

Almost like magic, Euphimia mellowed out like her normal self once her body got what it needed. Her symptoms vanished, and she was just happy about everything. But once the third month was over, Hitomi announced that she was expecting and had to hide herself away in her bedchamber so she wouldn't be shamed by others seeing her in her "delicate state".

Euphimia got up like normal, but as she did, she noticed something odd about her skin. Patches of yellowed flesh were all about her arms, as she looked at them. Blinking, she pushed on one, only for a slight pain to come from where she'd touched it. Tilting her head to the side, she was mystified by the blotches, although they looked a little familiar to her. She got up to wash herself and winced as she felt slight pain as her weight settled on her feet.

"What's going on? Oh well, I shouldn't get worked up over some strange patches of strange color on my skin."

She washed herself carefully, but as she moved about, the blotches got darker in color: from yellow to green, blue, then purple and even black. As she looked herself in the mirror, a particularly bad one on her eye finally clued her in.

"Bruises…I have bruises everywhere! But why? Could this be another symptom of my pregnancy? But how could this be so horrible? I can't go out of my room looking like this or else people will think that I've been beaten!" She gasped, eyes going wide. "No, worse, they would think _Folken_ beat me!"

Her alarm only worsened when she heard a knock on her door. She hadn't dressed yet, only in a slip, so a lot of her skin was visible to anyone who should come in. She had to do something quick, especially if it was her ladies maids!

Another knock sounded, before one of her ladies maids called, "Euphimia-sama, are you still asleep in there?"

"No, I'm not, just a moment!"

Doing the only thing she could, she dove back into bed and pulled the covers over her head, completely hiding herself.

The door slid open and two pairs of feet came in. "Euphimia-sama, what are you doing still in bed? Are you that tired?"

"No, I'm just not feeling very well today."

"If that's so Euphimia-sama, then we should send for a healer right away!"

"No! I just need to rest and I'll be fine later, really!"

"If you're ill, you shouldn't let it go on without attention, Euphimia-sama! If you don't want the healer to come, let one of us see how ill you are!"

Before Euphimia could stop it, the blankets were taken off her, and there was a silence as the two women took in the dark spots all over her pale skin.

"Euphimia-sama, how did you get these? Who hurt you?"

"She didn't have them when she retired for the night, so they must've happened during the night!"

Both gasped as they came to the same conclusion, although it was ludicrous. "Folken-sama must've beaten you!"

"But he's so gentle! Why would he suddenly turn violent?"

"Maybe something Euphimia-sama must've done offended him so he became furious!"

"We have to show Van-sama immediately!"

She was dressed carefully as to not jar any of her "wounds", before she was led by her ladies maids to the throne room. She winced with every movement, but tried to hide it. It hurt a lot to have her shoes on her feet, since every time she stepped down it pressed on a bruise. She lowered her head in shame as she was brought forward, even without Van's permission.

"Van-sama, we couldn't wait another moment! We have disturbing news to divulge to you!"

"Of the worst kind!"

Van blinked, taken aback that Euphimia's ladies maids were so forward today when they'd never done so before. "Speak."

"When we came in this morning to dress Euphimia-sama, we found her covered in bruises!"

"And she tried to hide them from us!"

"We accuse Folken-sama of beating her last night when no one was watching!"

Van stood up, eyes wide in shock. "That's a lie! Folken would never do that to Euphy-san!"

"Then look at her, Van-sama!"

Euphimia cried out as she was thrust forwards, stumbling and hitting the floor on her knees. She held herself, pain evident on her face as she looked up at her brother-in-law. He stepped down to her, lifting her chin to see that indeed she was covered in bruises, quite dark ones, too. He frowned a little, but asked, "Euphy-san, did Onii-chan do this to you?"

She shook her head. "No! Folken would never do such a thing! He isn't that kind of man!"

"She's trying to protect him, sire!"

"You have to confront him about this, because no one else could've done this to her!"

"Our poor Euphimia-sama loves him too much to admit that he's done anything!"

"Silence!" Van snapped. "Unless he's caught in the act, I won't believe that my own older brother would beat his own wife!"

Just then, Folken entered the throne room, in the dark about his wife's condition as he asked, "Van, is something the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Before Van could say a thing, the pair of servants pounced on the prince, hissing at him.

"You fiend! How can you live with yourself?"

"You have no right to do something like that to Euphimia-sama!"

"What could she do to make you lash out at her in such a manner?"

The teal-haired man looked puzzled at their accusations and looked back to his brother. "Van, what are they talking about?"

Van helped the pale-haired young woman to her feet, although she hissed through her teeth at the discomfort the movement caused. "Onii-chan, do you know anything about these?"

Folken's eyes fell on the mottled skin of his wife's body and they widened as he demanded, "Who did this to her? I'll have him drawn and quartered, put on the rack, placed over hot coals—"

"You mean you didn't do this to her?"

"You know I would never lay a finger on Euphy unless it was in a tender, loving way! I wouldn't even fathom doing such a cruel thing to my heart and soul!"

Euphimia ran over to him, pressing herself against him as she murmured, "Thank you, my love."

He gently stroked her hair so he would jar any of her "injuries". "It was all the truth, Euphy."

"Then who else could've done such a thing to Euphimia-sama?"

"She was in her bedchamber with you the whole night!"

Folken nodded. "No one could've, unless she was captured without my knowing and the deed done then, but who would want to beat the princess of Fanelia?"

Euphimia shook her head, knowing it couldn't have happened that way unless she'd been knocked out during the whole thing, and they'd appeared so fast that it couldn't have been an attack just before she'd woken up. These had to be a stage in her pregnancy, nothing else could explain their appearance. As she looked down at herself, she noticed that her stomach was actually a little distended, almost as if she was almost three-and-a-half months along already. Could the baby have already spread its wings and caused her womb to grow enough to accommodate them? If she was already this large, how much bigger would she be at the end of her pregnancy?

She bit her lip, not wanting to bring this to light, or else she would have to announce that she was pregnant, only a couple days after Hitomi had, when they'd planned for her to do so in two weeks.

"You should spread ointment onto her skin, Onii-chan. It'll probably help the bruises and the swelling lessen and heal faster," Van advised, but there was an immediate outburst from the ladies maids.

"We won't let Folken-sama spend any time alone with Euphimia-sama!"

"We know the truth and his innocent act won't get him anywhere!"

Van gritted his teeth and ordered, "Be silent or I'll banish you from the castle!"

Euphimia smiled a little as she thought that soon she'd be able to feel her baby flapping its wings and moving about inside of her. It would be a joy to feel such things.

Without warning, her eyes fell closed and she herself fell limp.

_She was lying in bed, pale and sweaty, when one of her ladies maids came up to her._

"_Congratulations, Euphimia-sama. If only Hitomi-sama was as lucky as you."_

"_I don't think of myself as lucky. This puts the Fanel house at a precarious position. Hitomi-chan is unable to have any more children and I've given birth to twins."_

"_But at least—"_

"_No! I won't be given praise for something out of my control! Just get out and leave me be!"_

_She looked over at Folken, who was sitting in a chair next to her bed. "Such a sadness that's come to our family. Poor Hitomi…how can I help her?"_

She woke to find Folken had carried her to their room and was now putting ointment on her bruises. He saw she'd awaken and smiled. "Does the ointment make your bruises feel any better?"

She felt tears coming to her eyes, not the gushing tears, but the slow, sorrowful tears that told of her inner anguish. Instantly Folken tensed and asked, "What's wrong, Euphy? Does something else hurt?"

"Hitomi-chan…"

"Your vision had something to do with Hitomi?"

She nodded. "Something happens to her when she has her baby, and she's unable to have any more children."

"Did you see how?"

"No."

"You saw something else, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"We're going to have twins."

He smiled and held her close, not tight enough to hurt her, though. "That's wonderful. Weren't you happy in the future?"

"No, but I don't know why. It probably has something to do with being able to have more children, unlike Hitomi-chan."

"Don't you ever feel bad for your own abilities, Euphy. Do you think you can do anything to prevent it?"

"Nothing in short of taking her to Earth and her having a C-section, but that would be too risky, because the baby's born with its wings out."

"To prevent Van from relying on me to produce a male heir, especially if Hitomi has a girl, we might just have to."

* * *

Two weeks of her suffering publicly wasn't pleasant, especially since her ladies maids still insisted that Folken was the one producing the bruises, although they didn't say it to him or Van. She couldn't wear any tight clothes because of the pain, and the ointment never really worked, even though she never said anything to make Folken worry any more than he had to, he was under enough stress as it was. Then came the day that she could finally reveal that she was pregnant, much to her relief. She hated acting well when she hurt all over.

In front of her ladies maids, she smiled up at her husband and announced, "Folken, I'm pregnant."

The two women squealed in glee, as Folken kissed her. "I'm glad that you are, and after Hitomi as well."

He lifted her and looked towards the two gossiping women. "Report to my brother that I'm unable to come to the morning audiences because my wife is unwell and needs to stay in her chambers."

They then remembered that she was still covered in bruises, along with being in a very delicate condition. "Folken-sama, don't you _dare_ harm her while we're gone."

With that they exited the room, Folken shook his head. "They still think I'm the one hurting you, don't they?"

"Yes," she admitted, looking over at the door and raising a hand. The edges of the door glowed and her smile turned frisky. "Now we can have some time alone so you can really pamper me."

His smile turned mischievous as well, as he carried her into their bathing chamber, where a warm bath had been prepared for the princess. He set her gently down on the floor so he could undress her carefully, his eyes flashing in sadness at the gruesome bruises that still covered her skin, which multiplied every day, so much that there was hardly any normal-colored skin left. She hissed as the soft fabric slid across her skin, dropping around her feet.

"How can I even touch you even the slightest without torturing you?" he wondered aloud.

Her eyes sparkled as she heard the sliding of cloth behind her, knowing he was undressing too. She didn't turn, since any movement hurt her because it pulled on her skin. But what made her gasp was the sound of his wings coming from his back, the black feathers floating around her. She caught one in her palms and held it, smiling gently at the sight of the beautiful plume from her beloved's wings. Yet as it made contact with her skin, she felt the pain go away. Her eyes widened as she looked at where it brushed her hands. The bruises were gone!

"Folken, come and look."

He saw her healed palms and carefully turned her around. He was wearing a towel around his waist, to keep some semblance of decency towards his wife as he was going to bathe her. "What happened? I was sure they were covered in bruises before."

She considered, and then a light bulb went on in her head as she realized something. "The last stage needed you to soothe my symptoms, what if this is the same? Your feathers on my skin make the bruises heal."

His eyes were thoughtful as he considered her theory. When he saw no other way, he nodded and lifted her, his wings hooded over them, the feathers brushing over her whole body. She almost purred at the contact, and when his wings lifted again, she looked perfectly healthy, in fact, her skin glowed from her body getting what it needed again. His smile was pure joy as he set her down in the water, checking to see if he'd missed anything before picking up the soap and a washcloth.

"It seems to have worked, my love. How do you feel?"

"Better than perfect, my dark-winged angel."

"That reminds me, you've never shown anyone your wings, even to me on our wedding night."

She fidgeted, nervous as he washed her. Should she reveal them? Would the physical strain make her hurt herself? She'd never let them out, but she'd dreamed when she had, although they were too fuzzy to make out each time, so she was left to guess what color they would actually be. Van's were a wonderful white, while Folken's were the best, a lovely, midnight black. Would her wings be gray, or some other color that would make her stand out? If they were her least favorite color on her, _green_, she would tear them off herself.

"Could it be that you don't know how to without hurting your back?"

She felt his flesh hand on the back of her neck and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the warm palm slide down her spine. It caused warmth to flash through her entire back before a rushing sound came from behind her. She lowered her head to make sure she didn't disturb what had come from her back, just as Folken placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't you want to see how beautiful they are, Euphy?"

She shook her head. "Are they a strange color?"

"I wouldn't call it strange…but they aren't normal, they're perfect for you."

Her eyes opened a little to find feathers floating on the surface of the water, delicate feathers the color…

"Blue…"

"Not just any blue, but the color of the Mystic Moon's light at the darkest hour of the night."

"But…how can this be? I thought all Draconians save you have white wings."

"It's a miracle. I wonder if people will think you a goddess because of your wing color."

He lifted her from the bath, before drying her gently. She looked at her wings, seeing that they were more delicate than Folken's, also the feathers weren't…as…stiff-looking. They looked softer than any bird's wings she'd ever seen. They seemed sensitive to the air, as he wrapped a new towel around her, making sure he didn't touch them.

"Folken, why haven't you touched my wings?"

"I've never touched a woman's wings before, I was waiting to see how you'd react should I not do so."

"You can…if you want."

Before he could, she fell over, a dream taking her and causing her wings to vanish inside her back again.

"_I learned that a Draconian woman's mate is the only one who can induce the actual birth of the baby once the time comes," Hitomi revealed, looking rather interested. "Has Folken ever touched your wings while you've been pregnant?"_

"_No," Euphimia admitted._

"_Don't let him, because that'll cause you to go into premature labor and give birth. That's probably why it also hints that Draconian women never let out their wings until their labor comes naturally."_

"_I guess my instincts were telling me not to, once my body knew it was pregnant."_

"_Let's just hope Folken doesn't want to or else the worst might happen."_

She woke, gasping as Folken just finished picking up all their feathers to burn them in the fireplace. His wings were still out as he threw the mix of glowing blue and jet black into the flames, instantly catching fire and incinerating. She was in a longer nightgown and he wore a pair of silk shorts that showed off his legs nicely. She was grateful for the fire, since the days were getting colder.

"Are you all right, Euphy? That was a short dream."

"Did you touch my wings as I passed out?"

"No, I didn't get the chance to."

"You can't until the day I give birth."

"Why is that?"

He turned to her and sat on the bed next to her, and she moved so she was sitting on his lap, her head cushioned on his muscular chest. "It's because while I'm pregnant, your touch on my wings will cause me to give birth, and it doesn't matter how far along I am at the time."

She felt his nod against the top of her head. His arms encircled her, his mechanical arm actually a little warmer from him making the fire. He murmured into her ear, "Now that I know, I won't induce your wings to reveal themselves. It's better not to, because I don't need anyone seeing your wings, my love."

"You're more protective than usual today."

"Because now it will be revealed to the council and all the castle that you're expecting as well. I want to be with you for all this time, but I cannot, since Van needs my help on some of the issues with politics he finds tedious, even after two years of being king."

"Do you think I'll be able to see Hitomi-chan during this time?"

"Unless it's at night, no. You cannot be seen in your condition save by me and your ladies maids, it's improper, according to tradition of the royal family. My mother had to go through the same thing when she carried myself and Van."

"I suppose especially once I start really showing, like when I'm four months along and beyond. Do you know why I'm so big already? I had some ideas, but I don't know which is right."

"My mother told me that she was so large because the baby's wings come out after they form inside the body so they can learn how to fly even before they come out of the womb. You're probably this large because you have twins. You'll probably be much larger than Hitomi when you're going to give birth."

"I wonder how large that'll be…"

"From what I saw of my mother when she was expecting Van, she was very large, her ladies maids told her that she looked like she was expecting twins, she was so big around the middle."

"So I'll probably look like I'm carrying quadruplets or something."

There was a furious knocking on the door, followed by a shout of: "Folken-sama, open this door right now! You have no right to jam the door and keep us out!"

"Let us in or we'll call some guards to break it down!"

Folken sighed and looked to his wife, who had her eyes closed, but wasn't sleeping. She looked as healthy as she'd been before the bruises had started to appear, and more content now that she didn't have to hide that she was carrying two miracles inside of her. She hummed a little as he kissed the top of her head, whispering to her, "Are you going to open the door?"

"I feel too comfortable where I am. I haven't gotten any good rest since the beginning of this month, and with you here, I can sleep better."

With a nod, he ordered through the door, "As of now, as long as I'm in here, you cannot be. My wife doesn't need you fluttering over her, making sure she's in perfect comfort. She needs rest and you fussing over her won't let her relax."

"You being alone with her is the _opposite _of what she needs, Folken-sama!"

"Only Euphimia-sama can order us around like that!"

Euphimia got sick of the yelling and lifted her head. "Unless you two want to get banished from the castle, I suggest you follow my husband's orders. He's never harmed me nor will he ever wish to cause injury to me. I feel just fine now, so leave until Folken wishes to go to the afternoon council meetings."

Her voice was soft, yet had a firmness to it that made her ladies maids answer, "Yes, Euphimia-sama."

* * *

All was quiet until, an hour later, there was an excited knock on the door. Folken woke from his light doze, seeing his wife was fast asleep. He called, "Who is it?"

"It's Merle, Folken-sama!"

"I wondered if you'd gotten lost on your trip to Asturia, you were there since just after the wedding."

"I'll tell you all the details once you open the door!"

He looked down at his slumbering mate and sighed, before stroking her cheek. "Euphy, wake up. Merle wants to see you."

Her eyes opened a little and she nodded. "I just had a dream that she has some happy news to tell us."

She raised her hand and the door glowed again before Merle pushed it open. The cat girl beamed as she came over, closing the door behind her. "I just saw Hitomi and she looks wonderful, even if she's not showing yet! Is Euphy in here because she's pregnant, too?"

Euphimia nodded, content to just rest against her husband, who's wings were wrapped around her protectively. "I'm not asleep, Merle."

Merle brightened and came over. "Euphy, is it true what Van-sama says? You're a Draconian now?"

"Yes, I am. But I can't show my wings until the time comes that I'll have my babies."

"You're having more than one?"

"Twins."

"That is so cool that you know before it happens! Besides, I have good news!"

"Tell me, then," Euphimia encouraged with a gentle smile on her face.

"I…I got married! I found this charming cat man in Asturia and we just couldn't stop talking! His name is—"

"Schroder, right?"

"Yes! He's the most gorgeous person I could've ever decided to marry! He's talking with Van-sama right now, and I think they're getting along! He's going to be part of the royal guard so he can stay here! Folken-sama, you should meet him too when you have a chance!"

"Perhaps tomorrow, I've been busy for a while and am taking a break today so I can be with Euphy," Folken answered with a smile.

Merle smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder before leaving.

"Is that what you dreamed about, Euphy?"

"Yes. I wonder what he's like."

"You won't see him for six months, or more. Your dignity is far more important than meeting Merle's new husband."

"I understand."

* * *

So now we've gone through another difficult stage in Euphimia's carrying! What could get worse? Ah...shouldn't have said that, because now it will! Dang it!

Well, until next time!

Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Here we are again, another chapter... Yay!

Enjoy!

* * *

In the morning, Euphimia noticed that because Folken had slept with his wings wrapped around her, her bruises hadn't come back in any form. She got up and sighed, looking out the window. "Hitomi-chan…no matter who I have the vision about, you always turn out losing your ability to bear children. We cannot let your only child be at risk by going to the Mystic Moon to have a C-section, and Folken wouldn't know what to do when it came to the surgery, even if I took him there to study it. I'm so sorry I can't do anything to change it…"

She felt a tear slide down her cheek and caught it, staring at it. "I'm not crying because of any symptoms? I…I thought I'd lost that ability, and it was a stage where my body was craving Folken's love… Could it be that my sorrow over my friend's loss has moved me that much?"

The door slid open, and her ladies maids came in, only to stop at the sight of her. There was a silence that Euphimia didn't understand, so she turned to see them with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Eu-Euphimia-sama! You're all right again!"

"Yes, I am."

"How did you get rid of the bruises?"

"They seemed to have healed up during the night. I feel fine now."

"You should be in bed! The baby needs rest as much as you!"

"I'm not tired, dying or making love to my husband, so why would I need to be in bed?"

Her bluntness made the pair of women freeze. They stared at her, aghast that she would mention such a thing to them, it was unladylike!

"Euphimia-sama! How can you talk of such things with such carelessness? It's shameful, even to just us!"

"Why is it shameful? I was just stating a fact. A bed isn't for just sitting. It's for sleeping, dying, and ma—"

Her mouth was covered by one of her ladies maids while the other scolded, "Don't say it again! What if a man of lower or higher station comes to the door while you're saying that? Your reputation as a princess would never be the same if you keep saying that vile phrase!"

They proceeded to dress her and as her gloves were slid on, she tilted her head. "I don't know why it would be so embarrassing to mention such a thing. Sure, my parents told me it's not a thing to speak in polite company, but I guess my tongue has loosened ever since I had to do it for nearly two months straight for my health."

"If you don't want to rest in bed, where would you like to rest?"

"On the chair by the balcony, please."

A cool breeze came through the curtains as she watched the birds flying south for the winter, although it hadn't snowed yet. She wondered what Fanelia looked like under a blanket of snow, probably nothing like Japan. Where she'd come from, it hardly ever snowed, and when it did, it turned into dirty mush an hour later.

"Euphimia-sama, are you sure this isn't too cold for you? It seems like winter is just days away."

"If I get cold, I'll have one of you get a shawl for me to wear. I like to gaze at the scenery."

"But once it snows, the doors to the balcony are going to be shut and your seat will be by the fire! We don't need you getting sick in here!"

That wasn't what made people sick in the winter, it was the lack of air flow. Everyone knew that back on the Mystic Moon, which was why people who went outside during the winter often were healthier than those who stayed inside. Germs abound where there was a lack of air circulation, so she didn't know how she wasn't going to get sick, especially if an epidemic came through the city and Van and Folken had to go out to help the people and came back full of whatever people were dying of.

Just thinking that she'd be stuck in here for another five-and-a-half months was just about enough to drive her up a wall. So perhaps to take some time off that she would have to spend waiting, she would take naps and dream about the future.

* * *

By the time her second trimester was done, she was nearly bored to tears, but then spring came and everything was aglow with life and sunshine. She was surprised how beautiful Fanelia could be in the spring, since she'd come here in the summer. She actually stood up from her chair by the fireplace and went out onto the balcony, face bright with awe and happiness, so much she started crying. She placed her hand on her back as she walked, since already she looked like she was full term with the twins, yet she had three more months. She knew why her ladies maids were fearful she'd throw her back out by the time the pregnancy was over, because she was so heavy in front.

She hadn't noticed at first, but her throat had been feeling rather dry and her stomach jumpy. Just as she turned to speak, a large hiccup came from her, and feathers from her wings popped from her back. Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth.

Her ladies maids rushed over, concerned where the feathers had come from. "Euphimia-sama, are you all right?"

She nodded, before she whispered in a rush, "Get my husband right now."

"What? But Folken-sama is busy! You can't have him come to you at your beck and call!"

The sharp, stern look in her eyes made them reconsider what they said. "Get my husband! This is a manner of life and death! Hurry, NOW!"

The two scurried out, just as their princess hiccupped again, feathers scattering everywhere. Even though it hurt, she gathered them as they came out, until her arms were full of feathers. The fire had been doused just the other day, so the embers were of no help to burning the feathers, so she actually flipped the covers of the bed off and dumped her load into it, before throwing the blankets back on. She squeaked when the door slid open, and Folken rushed in, eyes wide with worry.

"Euphy! What's the matter?"

He ran over to her, taking her hands and looking her over. She was trying to hold her breath, but unsuccessfully. She took a breath and hiccupped, feathers flying everywhere. His eyes followed the movements of the feathers to the floor and knew why she'd said it was a manner of life and death. If anyone who knew what Draconian feathers looked like saw them, her life would be in jeopardy. He knew that her ladies maids hadn't gotten a good look, because nearly every Fanelian knew about Draconians. He went to the door and ordered, "From now on no one save the immediate members of the royal family may enter this room! Tell Van that he needs to come down here immediately!"

"But Folken-sama—"

"NOW!" he nearly roared, making the women outside flinch and do as told.

He slid the door shut, before turning to Euphimia, who hiccupped again, her pale blue feathers coming out almost as much as when her wings appeared, save they didn't. She was trying to suppress them, but to no avail.

"I wonder what I should do this time, I'll have to discuss it with Van when he gets here."

Van came just as quickly as Folken had, just as Euphimia hiccupped, feathers showering to the floor. "What's this, Onii-chan?"

"I don't know, but I'm guessing it's another symptom she has now, but this one is dangerous, as you can see."

"I'll have to have a guard posted in front of the door, only letting you or I enter during these last three months until we can find a cure."

"Indeed, even her ladies maids, who are getting more and more annoying as things go on. If she doesn't stop soon, then we'll have enough to stuff this whole mattress with."

"The color of her feathers sure is unusual."

"I know, so they might not be thought of as Draconian feathers at first."

Van picked one up and gazed at it. "I can see what you mean. They're much softer and that color that's so familiar to all of Gaea, they might actually think she's a goddess should anyone come across her with her wings out."

"And besides the fact that she's from the Mystic Moon, the old legend of the Wing Goddess might start circling around, if it's found out a girl from the Mystic Moon has wings the color of its light during the darkest hour of the night."

Euphimia tilted her head to the side. "The 'Wing Goddess'?"

Folken sat her down on the bed and explained. "There's a famous song about a woman from the Mystic Moon descending to Gaea, and she will either save or destroy Gaea with her song. Her voice will echo over all of Gaea, and her wings, the glowing blue of the moon at its brightest during the night, will stretch out and bring this world to prosperity and peace, or down in flames and endless war."

Van sighed. "I always thought it was Hitomi who was the Wing Goddess, since she did have the power through her will to change the power of fate, and she did save Gaea from destruction."

"No, she only used the power of Atlantis. According to the song that was sung, she would descend to a Dragon in the land of dragons, dressed in white."

Euphimia stiffened. She _had_ been wearing a white kimono when she'd come here. So it was her fate to either save or destroy Gaea? But she'd been born human! How could she be a goddess? For now she wouldn't worry about it. If she was this goddess, then it would be. But if not, then life would go on as usual.

It was that simple.

_

* * *

Hitomi screamed as she struggled through giving birth, blood everywhere as her baby tore its way out of her as the false dawn shone through the window of the room._

"_Van, help me!"_

"_Hitomi-sama, just one more and we'll have the baby!"_

_The emerald-eyed teenager squirmed as she managed one more push, barely able to get out a choked yelp as she collapsed, panting. The midwife cut off the extra flesh off the newborn, before she announced, "It's a girl, Hitomi-sama. But, unfortunately, she tore out most of your womb along with her."_

_Hitomi sobbed as she realized what had happened to her. "V-Van…I'm so sorry…"_

The pale-haired princess shot up in bed, eyes wide as pain shot through her stomach, making her wince. Both she and Hitomi were eight months along and doing fine, but she had this really bad feeling that this vision was going to come true very soon. She clutched her head as she felt tears of sorrow run down her face.

Folken sat up in bed alongside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Euphy, what's wrong?"

"I just had another vision about Hitomi-chan giving birth…but now I have a feeling it's going to happen very soon."

Both of them looked up when they heard a cry from down the hall, where Hitomi and Van's chambers were. Folken placed a hand on her shoulder and got up, putting on a simple outfit and was just about to open the door when there was a knock on it. He pushed it open and found a bright-eyed Van on the other side.

"Onii-chan, Hitomi's going to have the baby now! From what she's saying, she's going to have it by morning!"

Folken smiled. "That's good Van. Is the midwife on her way?"

"She's already inside, even if Hitomi is a month early. I'm going to be a father!"

Euphimia laughed through her tears at the irony. Van's only child with his queen would be a girl, but he didn't know that. She knew her despair for her friend wasn't good when she was this far into her pregnancy, but she couldn't help it. She sniffed, trying to stifle the waterworks.

Folken came back to her, rubbing her back. "Are you going to be all right, Euphy? Do I need to calm you down?"

"Poor Hitomi-chan…why can't I do something?" she wailed, before she yelped, holding her stomach. "Ow…that hurts…"

Folken's hands went on top of hers before he realized what had happened. "Your sorrow just forced you into premature labor, but it shouldn't be too dangerous, since you told me that most women get induced at this time on the Mystic Moon anyways. We just have to make sure Hitomi has her baby first."

"I shouldn't be for several hours, but Hitomi-chan has her baby at the false dawn."

Folken looked out the window and nodded. "Is there anything I can get for you, my angel?"

She shook her head. "No…I feel all right for now."

Around midday, she was panting hard, squeezing Folken's real hand as she suffered through yet another contraction. Because she'd refused to let him go, her husband was to sit through the whole thing. Van's council was already bugging the king to get another wife to have his heir, because Hitomi had been injured so severely that it was probably impossible for her to have another child, unless he wanted to rely on his brother's children to carry on the line. Folken wanted to go out and give the old men a piece of his mind, but his wife needed him right now.

"Euphy, don't give up."

Suddenly, her wings emerged, tearing the back of her nightgown. She whimpered, "Folken, please…"

He reached out and stroked down her wings, making her cry out from the pain of giving birth suddenly to the twins. Her wings lit up and vanished after that, feathers scattered all around her as the midwife smiled.

"Twins, and they're both boys."

Folken sighed and smiled. "They're both princes. Cedric Van and Roy Goau."

Both the little boys were black-haired with large pale yellow eyes, their tiny white wings disappearing once they stopped flailing. Folken held his firstborn, Cedric, who fell asleep after being handed to his father. Their mother held the younger twin, Roy, who sniffled a little still before he too fell asleep. She smiled down at her son, stroking his fair face.

"My little Roy…"

Folken stood and bounced his son a little before stepping out. He heard the loud voices of the councilors and shook his head.

"Van-sama, you must think of your country! Hitomi-sama probably will never have another child again! You must marry a girl of noble blood since you chose your first wife! We cannot rely on luck if Euphimia-sama only has girls as well!"

Van shook his head. "I won't marry another woman to just have my children! That would be an insult to Hitomi and it would make my people think I don't love her enough!"

"Van, calm down," the teal-haired prince interrupted, coming over. "You don't have to remarry just to have your heir."

Van turned to see his brother. "Onii-chan! Thank goodness! Is Euphy-chan all right?"

"She's fine. So Hitomi had a girl? That's unfortunate."

"She called her Yukari Sora."

"Van, I somewhat agree with the council on one point. If you wish, you don't have to remarry, but if you want to rely on my children to be your heirs, you won't have to wait. Euphy had twin boys, the elder I'm holding."

"You see! Folken-sama, fate has smiled down at you! Not only is your wife whole and healthy after giving birth, but she gave you two boys!"

Folken's eyes sharpened. "But, if you do, Cedric will become the next king, not me, if you die first, Van. I won't be king, it would feel like I've stolen the title from you like a tyrant. And I am no tyrant."

Suddenly, from inside the room, the midwife cried, "Euphimia-sama, you mustn't get up!"

"I've stopped bleeding already and I feel fine. I have to say my piece," the princess insisted.

The door slid open and Euphimia came out, sweaty and red-faced from giving birth, yet she was calm and collected. "Noble councilors of Fanelia, I, Euphimia Yume de Fanel, princess of Fanelia, have another option for Van-kun. One that ought to suit him and his wife better than the first two proposals."

Van and Folken turned to her, shocked.

"Let us hear your idea, Euphimia-sama."

"As soon as I recover fully, I can become a surrogate mother to Van-kun and Hitomi-chan's child. I have no qualms to doing so, in fact, I'd be happy to."

The group of men laughed, making Euphimia narrow her eyes.

"What's so amusing?"

"What is this nonsense you spout? 'Surrogate mother'? That's impossible! Unless you were to marry Van-sama and become his second wife!"

Van and Folken became as white as a sheet of paper, thinking that was what she was suggesting. Could she be so bold as to have two husbands, the prince _and_ king of Fanelia?

Euphimia snorted, shaking her head. "No, that isn't what I meant. Do you not know what 'surrogate' means?"

"Do you insult our intelligence?"

"How dare you!"

"Surrogate means proxy!"

"Yes, so if you know that, then you should know that the term 'surrogate mother' means 'substitute mother'. On the Mystic Moon, we are able to do such things. I would have Van-kun and Hitomi-chan's baby placed in my womb and I would carry it for nine months and give birth to it, but it would be their child, nothing to do with me. Hitomi-chan would be able to have children through me, as long as we act quickly."

Folken understood first and his eyes widened. "Euphy, you would do that?"

"Yes, I would. After all, I did foresee this happening and could do nothing, so I'll do the second-best thing. I'll give my best friend and brother what they want."

Van smiled, comprehending the gift his sister-in-law was offering.

* * *

This was such a tender moment...don't you think? **sniffs**

Okay, now that the painful moment is over...**looks around at angry fans**... All right, all right! I'm sorry I did this to Hitomi, but it was for extra drama! Please don't hate me forever!

And also...

Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Yay! More of this story!

Enjoy!

* * *

After a week, Euphimia was successfully implanted with an embryo and her body accepted it like a charm. Hitomi, who still had to recover from blood loss and having her entire reproductive organs removed once the procedure had been done, was happy that she'd be able to give Van the chance to have a boy.

"Euphy-chan, thank you for doing this when you didn't have to."

"No, it's my duty, since I couldn't help you before."

"This ought to be interesting to see my own child grow and then born by my best friend."

"I know, it'll feel a little weird, but at least you'll be able to have another baby, even if it is another girl."

They hugged, like the best friends and sisters they were.

* * *

So her cycle began again, with the tears. But no matter what Folken did, she kept crying. In fact she cried harder when he made any attempt to be affectionate. So, yet again at the dinner table, they discussed it, although now they were a little more discreet.

"I don't understand it," Folken grumbled. "It's like my own wife is a stranger to me. If I more than casually touch her, her tears seem to multiply."

Euphimia said nothing, although she was sobbing over her plate like the world was about to end.

Hitomi tried to figure out this one, before the obvious conclusion came to her. She bit her lip, sighing deeply. _Why_ did it have to turn out like _this_? "Folken, it's because you're not the father of the child."

The older of the two brothers turned to the younger with a frustrated glare. "I'm letting Euphy carry your child, but touch her, and I'll kill you."

"Onii-chan, she's _your_ wife! Why would I even think about touching her that way?"

"Because you feel sorry for her suffering. You can't touch her, even if she has to cry herself out."

"I vow never to touch her in that manner, Onii-chan. You can trust me."

Euphimia sighed, eating what she could manage that didn't get soaked with salt. Infidelity was something she would never do and even though her body was crying for Van's touch, she wouldn't shame him. She'd rather die.

* * *

By the time her first trimester was done, she'd thought she was dying. But then the bruises started to appear and she had to hide herself so she wouldn't have to deal with Folken being accused a second time. She knew only Van could take the bruises away until her second trimester was up, but she couldn't do that because that would require the removal of all her clothes. So she had to suffer through that, too. It was so painful that she looked drained when the bruises finally vanished.

"If I ever want to do this again, at least you'll be able to comfort me," she groaned, Folken running his fingers through her hair. She hiccupped every moment or so, feathers piling up on the bed behind her. Every hour or so he would get up to burn the feathers, which weren't toxic in the least.

"That is true, my love. But what would've happened had you given in to the call of your body and pounced on Van? He's been aching for it as well, since Hitomi doesn't feel the need to because she has nothing left to crave his company for."

"It would've hurt not only us, but you and Hitomi as well. I don't want to know what would've been done to try and hide that the king had slept with his brother's wife."

"It would've been worse than the last time."

Euphimia nodded as Folken got up to throw the feathers into the fire again. Last time she'd had to get down on hands and knees and humble herself into the dust to gain his forgiveness. Had her and Van done anything, it would've been much, _much_ worse. It would've taken a long time for him to even begin to forgive her, even with his kind nature, let alone his younger brother.

Yet during her first trimester, she'd had dreams of doing so, yet they'd never come to pass. It made her wonder if they had, and she'd never realized it. If they had, no one knew, because Van hadn't said anything. It really ate at her, but if it couldn't be proven, nothing happened, even if she'd had foretelling dreams about it.

It made her feel nervous like nothing else. She just hoped her dreams didn't come back to haunt her.

* * *

She had the baby quickly, and sighed when the midwife announced, "It's a boy."

"I'm grateful for that…"

Hitomi took the baby and cooed at him. "Oh Van, look at him. He's precious."

Van smiled down at his son and heir, before turning his smile to his sister-in-law. "Thank you, Euphy-chan. You don't know how much this means to both of us."

Euphimia snorted. "Of course I don't. But had I been in the same position as Hitomi-chan, I suppose she would've done the same for me."

Hitomi nodded. "In a heartbeat, Euphy-chan. Van, what should we call him?"

Van looked down at the newborn that had black hair and emerald eyes. "We'll call him Balgus Folken. He should like that very much."

* * *

I love having such a happy ending to a chapter...**sniffs**...I'm just a sucker for these.

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Thanks to the reviewer that commented on my story! It makes me happy to see someone like it enough to tell me! **happy dance**

Last time, Euphy just gave birth to Van and Hitomi's child, now for a time skip! Some people hate those, but it needed to happen in my opinion!

Enjoy!

* * *

Three years later, the four children were very active, running about the castle, happy as can be…most of the time.

"Hey! Cedric! Roy! Come back!" Yukari cried.

"Come back!" Balgus chimed, both in tears.

The twins had become quite mischievous and mean once they'd turned three, not letting their cousins play with them and playing pranks on them. Sometimes it got so bad that it resulted in injuries. It was lucky that Euphimia could foresee most of them and intervene.

Roy, the fastest out of all the children, looked back with a grin, before running into something. He felt how soft it was and froze, looking up into the face of his mother. She had her arms crossed and looked down at him and his brother with disappointment. He swallowed and knew that he and his brother were in big trouble this time.

"Um…Cedric…"

"What?" Cedric demanded, before seeing the same thing. He smiled sheepishly and shuffled his feet. "Hi, Mom."

She tapped her foot, all three knowing what she was waiting for. She didn't say a word, but her eyes said it all. She was going to hear the whole story and didn't care what it took. The twins had learned that, but not their lesson, obviously.

"Um…Mom…we…" Roy couldn't seem to form a sentence, so Cedric decided to give it a go.

"We stole their favorite toys," the elder twin revealed, knowing that although this prank wasn't that bad, it was a prank nonetheless. "We'll give them back now, Mom, I promise!"

She didn't move, so they knew what was next. They turned in unison and bowed to their cousins. "We're very sorry, please forgive us, Yukari and Balgus!"

They held up the toys as a peace offering. Balgus and Yukari returned, "We forgive you, Cedric and Roy! Thank you for returning the toys!"

Cedric saw that their mother had started heading for their father's study, so he knew the punishment was coming soon, if she was going to tell their father. He nudged his twin and they ran after her.

"Mom, please don't tell Dad!"

"He'll put us on the rack for sure!"

They grabbed onto her skirt, although it was fruitless. She got to their father's study and knocked.

"Enter."

She opened the door and walked in. "Folken, our children are being naughty again. You know what needs to be done."

Their father was a large man, yet not as large as they'd heard his mentor in swordsmanship had been. So when he stood up and then crouched down, they knew they were gonna get it. He looked down at his children with a controlled patience and placed his hands on their shoulders. "Cedric, Roy, how many times have I said this?"

The boys hung their heads. "Too many to count."

"So you should know what I'm about to say, am I right?"

"Yes."

"Your status as the elder princes makes it so that you must be more mature than your younger cousin. That _isn't_ what you're doing. Why must you tease your cousins so?"

Roy twiddled his fingers and murmured, "They were mean to us first."

"Oh? How so?"

"They wouldn't share their toys with us," Cedric continued.

Folken looked up at his wife, who sighed and nodded. "This time, it was Yukari and Balgus who started it. They didn't want to play with Cedric and Roy, so the boys decided to steal their favorite toys to teach them to share. But, obviously, they thought that it was a prank. I'll give Hitomi-chan and Van-kun a talking to later today to straighten this out."

* * *

Through many tears and talking, Yukari and Balgus were going to be taught to be better as well, not spoiled brats like they were turning into. Van and Hitomi had been so busy ruling Fanelia that they hadn't had time to raise their children well, so they had to take some time off to do so.

Euphimia and Folken took an afternoon off, letting the twins' nursemaids take care of them during that time. They went into the forest and stood together in the glade where the memorial of the royal family was, along with the sleeping Escaflowne. Euphimia wore a backless dress, made of flowing silk and of a lily white. Her hair was drawn over one shoulder so her revealed skin shone almost whiter than her dress. Folken came up from behind her and ran his warm palm down her back, making her arch it and her wings bloom outwards. He kissed the side of her neck as he whispered, "It's been three years since we've been able to be alone like this, Euphy. Tell me what you desire and I will grant it."

"Come, fly with me and we will discover new places in which to explore in this forest."

He spread his ebony wings and they took flight, seeing the beautiful trees under them. A sudden loud whistling came from above them, before pain blossomed through her left wing. She screamed in agony, as Folken saw what had hit her. A large spear with a wickedly barbed head, right through the fleshy part of not only her wing but her shoulder, dangerously close to her heart. The excruciating sound made him freeze as she fell, before he dived after her, wings swept back for speed. He held out his flesh hand, crying, "Euphy! My hand!"

She reached out her right hand, just barely catching his before a pillar of light descended and took them up, only to throw them down right above the street in front of the woman's family's house. She hit the ground hard, eyes going wide before they drifted shut, Folken shouting something before darkness took her.

* * *

"_Euphy! You're alive!" Cornelia cried, hugging her._

"_Of course I am," Euphimia replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"_

_Sebastian poked her left shoulder, and her face contorted with pain, hissing through her teeth. "You nearly died from that huge hole in your shoulder. It took several blood transfusions for you to look even remotely fine again. Mom and Dad won't tell us how you got it, but it sure looked grisly."_

_It was only then that Euphimia noticed that she was in a hospital room, an IV in each arm, one with a clear liquid, the other with blood. She groaned a little. "Oh man, what happened to me? I don't recall a thing."_

_Cornelia noticed her confused mood and explained, "The doctor said you might have brain damage, because of a bad hit to the back of your head. You might've gotten amnesia."_

"_I can remember everything, you two are my younger siblings, I can speak several languages fluently, my two best friends are Hitomi and Yukari, I'm seventeen—"_

"_You're not seventeen, Euphy," Sebastian interrupted. "You're twenty-two."_

_Euphimia paused, eyes wide. "I…I am?"_

"_Yeah, you've been missing for five years!" Cornelia affirmed. "We thought you'd died because of a vision you had the night before then!"_

"_What kind of vision?"_

"_You were standing in a field overlooking a city with a weird rock formation around it like a wall, you picked a purple flower you'd never seen before, and then you saw a person with wings flying towards you. We all thought it had to be the Shinigami coming to take you to heaven, but now that you're back, you must've been abducted!"_

"_Um…I don't remember ever having a dream like that…"_

_Both her siblings nodded in understanding. Sebastian, who actually looked like he was eighteen now that she'd gotten a good look at him, stated, "Then you must have—"_

Euphimia felt her consciousness returning slowly to her, numbness in her entire body. She couldn't really feel her body, so she had to think hard to open her eyes. Why was she feeling like this? And what was with that confusing dream?

"Euphy! You're alive!" Cornelia cried, hugging her.

"Of course I am," Euphimia replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sebastian poked her left shoulder, and her face contorted with pain, hissing through her teeth. "You nearly died from that huge hole in your shoulder. It took several blood transfusions for you to look even remotely fine again. Mom and Dad won't tell us how you got it, but it sure looked grisly."

It was only then that Euphimia noticed that she was in a hospital room, an IV in each arm, one with a clear liquid, the other with blood. She groaned a little. "Oh man, what happened to me? I don't recall a thing."

Cornelia noticed her confused mood and explained, "The doctor said you might have brain damage, because of a bad hit to the back of your head. You might've gotten amnesia."

"I can remember everything, you two are my younger siblings, I can speak several languages fluently, my two best friends are Hitomi and Yukari, I'm seventeen—"

"You're not seventeen, Euphy," Sebastian interrupted. "You're twenty-two."

Euphimia paused, eyes wide. "I…I am?"

"Yeah, you've been missing for five years!" Cornelia affirmed. "We thought you'd died because of a vision you had the night before then!"

"What kind of vision?"

"You were standing in a field overlooking a city with a weird rock formation around it like a wall, you picked a purple flower you'd never seen before, and then you saw a person with wings flying towards you. We all thought it had to be the Shinigami coming to take you to heaven, but now that you're back, you must've been abducted!"

"Um…I don't remember ever having a dream like that…"

Both her siblings nodded in understanding. Sebastian, who actually looked like he was eighteen now that she'd gotten a good look at him, stated, "Then you must have selective memory loss."

There was sudden yelling outside the closed door, Cornelia shaking her head. "Why won't he just leave? They've been at it for the past two days since you came back."

Euphimia blinked. "Who's 'he'?"

Sebastian shrugged. "This guy who appeared with you. Dad and Mom won't let him see you, even though he claims he knows you well, especially Mom. She hates his guts, even though I don't understand why."

"Does this 'guy' have a name?"

"I dunno," her brother admitted. "He won't give a name, but he just keeps insisting that he'll take care of you. I don't know how Mom and Dad can handle that guy, he's so freakin' tall plus he's a beefcake."

Cornelia snickered. "I never thought you'd ever say that word."

"When applied to that guy, it's the right term. And I thought we were tall here. He's a monster, I swear he's at least six foot, maybe taller."

(They're used to seeing the short and rather slender normal Japanese people, since they were raised mostly in Japan. That's why Folken's tall muscled frame is such a shock to them.)

The pale-haired woman tried to think of someone she knew that was tall and a "beefcake" as Sebastian put it. She placed her right hand to her lips as she kept trying to think, but came up with nothing. Could he be someone she'd met wherever she'd gone? Or…was he the one who kidnapped her? Was that why her parents wouldn't let him see her?

Cornelia smiled a little. "I think he's pretty handsome, though."

Sebastian smacked her over the head. "You're married, so stop drooling over him, Cornelia."

"I know that!"

"And I know you don't like him in the least."

"Of course not, but it was my duty to marry him, because Euphy wasn't here to fulfill the contract!"

The eldest of the three snapped out of her reverie when she heard that. "You mean you're married to someone I was supposed to marry? Why wasn't I told this?"

Cornelia covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh. I wasn't supposed to say anything about that around you. Mom is gonna kill me."

"Why? Has Mom become a harpy while I've been missing?"

Sebastian nodded. "She's a total harpy. I don't know why, but almost two months after you left, she came home one day, acting furious all the time, and from then on, her temper has been uncontrollable. She's a beast and she won't even say why she's like that. Dad doesn't know how to calm her down at all, and she tore up all your pictures, as if you were the problem." **A/N: Does anyone remember what happened? Kudos to who does!**

"Mom's changed for the worse, I never even remember her being so angry…she was a little pushy, but the way you describe her…it can't be."

"It's true, Euphy!" Cornelia insisted. "I wanted to marry the boy I was dating, but then she blew up on me and I couldn't say no to her!"

"_WILL YOU GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL, YOU FOOL? I WON'T LET YOU SEE MY DAUGHTER! YOU HAVE NO PROOF THAT YOU KNOW HER AND UNLESS SHE WAKES UP, SHE CAN'T PROVE IT EITHER! NOW GET OUT BEFORE I HAVE YOU KICKED OUT BY SECURITY!"_

All three of the occupants of the room flinched at the sound of their mother screaming, Euphimia more so because she'd never heard her mother's voice so loud in her life. Cornelia got up and sighed. "I'll have to tell them, then. I don't want them fighting anymore." She slid open the door and called out, "Mom, quit screaming at him! Euphy's awake!"

Her sister yelped when she was pushed aside and Euphimia laid eyes on the stranger that her younger siblings had been talking about. He was very tall, very solid, and his presence was gentle yet commanding. He had messy teal hair, fair skin, and magenta eyes. He had odd make-up on: purple eye shadow that extended like extra eyelashes from the outer corners of his eyes, and a purple teardrop underneath his right eye. He had a pair of gold hoop earrings too, which, although strange, fitted him. He wore a set of clothes that screamed finery, from his deep blue jacket to his shiny black boots. She didn't know how to take him. Was he a rebel in a rich man's clothes? Or a rich man that had served some time and killed someone?

His appearance baffled her so that she was unprepared for him to sit down next to her and take her good hand in both of his. His smile was gentle and loving as he asked, "Euphy, how are you feeling?"

Before she could even say a thing, her mother and father came in, her mother red-faced, she was so mad. "I thought I told you you couldn't see my daughter! Get out at once!"

Her father remained silent, letting his wife do the talking, since she seemed to be the dominant parent in this circumstance. He didn't look too pleased that this man was in the room, either.

The room went dead silent when Euphimia gave him a blank stare. "Who are you?"

His face portrayed shock when she said that. "You don't know me?"

Sebastian snorted. "Would she ask that if she did?"

The mysterious man was at a loss for words, in such shock he didn't resist when Euphimia's mother pulled him out of the chair and out the door, slamming it in his face. She then smiled serenely, sitting down at her daughter's side. "Euphy dear, how are you? Much better?"

"Um…what just happened? Who was that man and how did he know my nickname?"

Her mother waved a hand dismissively. "He wasn't anyone, sweetheart."

"He must be someone important if he was fighting tooth and nail to come in here. Mom, is he my boyfriend or something?"

The word "boyfriend" made her mother yell, "HE'S NO ONE!"

At her outburst, the man of the house placed his hand on her shoulder. "Darling, calm down. I know you dislike the man, but you don't have to yell at Euphy because of it. She is recovering from a bad injury, if you recall."

"I don't dislike him, I _loathe_ him, I _abhor_ him, I wish he didn't exist. He's an _abomination_ that should be _eradicated_."

Euphimia was aghast by her mother's behavior. Had this man done this to her? _What_ had he done to incur such hatred? He seemed like a kind and gentle man, a little forward, but one that didn't seem like he would hurt a fly. Yet that teardrop suggested otherwise…

Cornelia sighed, shaking her head. "Mom, he isn't that bad. He just wanted to see Euphy. Now that he has and she doesn't recognize him, he'll probably give up and go home!"

"If only we're that lucky," the older woman growled. "He's as persistent as a mosquito."

Since her mother wouldn't answer her questions, she turned to her father. "Dad, who was he?"

"He didn't give a name, but he was quite adamant at seeing you ever since you could have visitors, but your mother refused just as ardently. He seems to know you enough that he can call you by your nickname. Are you sure this is the only time you've seen him?"

"That I can remember, Dad. Sebastian says that I have selective memory loss. I can only remember to a certain point before everything is blank until I woke up just ten minutes ago. It seems that Mom knows him from somewhere and she's formed a chip on her shoulder because of him."

Just then, the doctor came in. "All right, everyone, out. I need to check how those stitches are holding and how her strength is holding up."

The family walked out, Euphimia looked up at the doctor and gave a weak smile. "Thank you for rescuing me from all that. There seems to be a disagreement between my parents and a man that I can't seem to recall."

The doctor nodded and smiled. "I heard some of it while checking on you earlier yesterday. Do you remember what might've caused this injury? It couldn't be a bullet, or else you'd have some kind of burns around your wound, although there were traces of splintered wood."

She shook her head. "No, I don't."

"You must've hit your head just right, then. What can you remember?"

"The last thing I can recall was when I was still in high school, when I was a junior, in the middle of summer. According to my brother, that was five years ago."

"I see, so you _do_ have memory loss. Do you even know your relation to that man out there?"

"No, I don't."

"Hmmm, so he could be anything from a friend to a husband, although I don't know how he could've managed that with how your mother is, unless he eloped with you…"

"Do you think I'll gain my memory back?"

"It might be temporary, it might be permanent, it matters if you have brain damage or not from your injury, or your memory loss might just be from the shock your body received. Either way, we'll need a cat-scan to make sure."

"When will I be able to do that?"

"Not for a while, your stitches would pop open and you would start bleeding again if you were moved right now. It might take a few weeks for you to heal enough. For now, you seem stable. Now I'll call in a nurse so you can have a sponge bath and your hair washed. It has been three days."

"Okay, thanks."

"And you are extremely lucky."

"Why?"

"It didn't hit any vital organs, whatever struck you."

* * *

Things just took a turn for the worse! Euphy has forgotten about her life on Gaea! Who shot her and why? That may be found out in future chapters!

In the meantime...

Please review!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Oh, sorry everyone! I posted the chapter after this, so please, read this one too!

Enjoy!

* * *

It took another week before the wound fully closed on the outside, and then she could sit up and eat on her own. They gave her a cat-scan, and she waited for the results calmly, knowing that either way, she would have to recover the life she'd lost somehow. She knew that man that had come in to her that first day had to be connected to her somehow, but she never saw him after that, because her mother said he was dangerous and couldn't be near her.

The doctor came in and smiled sadly. "Yume-chan, I'm sorry to tell you this, but there was brain damage, so as far as I can tell, your condition is permanent."

Her eyes widened. "Five years lost…what could I have done in that time that no one but that man knows about?"

"Since it's early in the morning, would you like to walk around a little before we release you? Your muscles need the exercise."

"Okay."

"Slowly, slowly now."

She got up, her bare feet hitting the cold floor before she put her weight on them. Her left arm was in a sling until the stitches were to be removed in a few days, just so that the injury could close completely on the inside. She hissed a little at the movement, since she was still a little tender. "I am so thankful I'm not left-handed, or else I would've suffered from having to learn how to hold chopsticks with my right."

The doctor chuckled a little. "Do you want help walking? I could—"

"No, I'm fine. It's just like walking around with only one arm. I still feel a little weak, but I should be fine."

She limped out the door and gasped when she met the mysterious man right outside. Her heart sped up a little at the sight of him, although she didn't know why. It made her injury hurt a little more than usual, her eyes squinting a bit from the sensation. The doctor came out behind her and his eyes widened. "Sir, you aren't supposed to be here. You've been barred from seeing Yume-chan."

"Um…do we know each other, sir?" she asked, gazing at him as if trying to figure him out.

He nodded. "You still don't remember?"

She shook her head, before lowering it a little. "If we met after I turned seventeen, I'm sorry, but those memories are lost to me forever. I hit my head hard enough that I'm unable to remember anything past that before I woke up in the hospital." She then looked straight into his eyes. "But just by how stubborn you are at seeing me, you and I must know each other beyond just being friends! I can feel it in my entire body, even though my mind is drawing up a blank."

He looked a little sad, but he smiled. "We did Euphy, but since you are healing from that horrid injury still, I cannot risk you being shocked and suffering further. I'll have to wait until you are able to move about normally, but, unfortunately, I don't think your parents will allow me to see you. Because of something that happened during the time you cannot remember, your mother loathes me."

"My mother is one to hold strong grudges, but I've never seen one this potent before. It has completely stripped her of all composure she might've been able to muster. But she cannot stop me from seeing you, I'm twenty-two years old, old enough to be living on my own. Whatever relationship we had, I don't want to lose it more than I have already."

He came forward and placed a hand on her unharmed one. "That is all I can ask from you, Euphy. After you are completely healed, I want to start over and be able to form new memories even more precious than the ones before. Until then, I take my leave."

He bowed a little before walking away. She watched him move, her cheeks coloring at how smoothly he did so.

"Whoever he is, he's surely no person from a normal family."

The doctor sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Shall we continue our walk?"

"Okay."

* * *

"YOU LET THAT MAN SEE HER?"

"Yume-san, please control yourself. It was only for a moment, and he did nothing to harm her. I don't see why you insist he's dangerous for her health."

"HE'S THE CAUSE OF HER INJURY! DON'T ALLOW HIM TO EVEN BE WITHIN SIGHT OF HER AGAIN!"

"That won't be a problem, since he said that he wouldn't be coming around until she was completely healed. He didn't tell her anything to shock her, so you have no need to worry, Yume-san."

Euphimia sighed and shook her head. Her mother didn't have any right to make that man stay away from her. It was her choice whether or not he could see her, and she liked him, from how gentle and friendly he was, and he wasn't too bad-looking, either. In fact, despite his strange make-up (although she was sure it was a tattoo) he was gorgeous and made her almost swoon at the thought of him. They must've been boyfriend and girlfriend, at least. She was sure of that, or else he wouldn't make her feel this way.

She ran her hand through her hair, wondering what she would wear when they met again. Something nice, that was for sure. Then again, she didn't know where they would go on their date, maybe the festival at the nearby shrine? Then she would have to wear a nice yukata. She wondered what he looked like wearing a yukata, and what color he would wear. It made her smile at the thought of being able to see him again, even if she didn't know his name or anything about him.

Her smile dropped when her mother came in, a fake smile on her features. "Euphy, what did that man say to you?"

"Not much, why?"

"The doctor didn't give me any details besides his desire to see you after you're well."

"He and I talked very little, so there isn't much to tell. Besides that, you seem to know who he is. I think you should at least tell me his name, even though you insist he's no one of consequence."

Her mother's face turned red in anger but she scoffed, "I told you, he has nothing to do with you."

"My heart and body say otherwise. There isn't any way that I couldn't have known him before if I feel this way. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you're keeping the information from me to spite him, so he'll have to work harder to see me and get to know me."

From her mother's silence, she knew she'd hit the nail on the head. "Just because I have amnesia doesn't mean I'm stupid, Mom. You should know that, and tell me the truth. Who is he?"

"I won't tell you, and if you ask again, I'll lock you up in your room and you'll _never_ see him again!"

With that, the older woman stomped out and slammed the door.

"But you no longer have that kind of control over me, Mom. If you try, I'll just slip out the window and run away, and I'll never see _you _again."

* * *

Wow, that was a situation I suppose a lot of teenagers have with overprotective parents. Well, all of you have read the next chapter, which I'll be posting next, almost exactly the way it was!

Please review!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Sorry to those who weren't expecting this! Just a temporary in-between arc, or otherwise known as filler! Oh my gosh...it _is_...dang, I thought I'd never make any filler in my stories!

Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

When she was released from the hospital, she was able to move around the house with little problems, although her stitches were yet to be taken out, although they would in a couple days. Her arm was still in its sling and bandages wrapped around her shoulder. She now wore a simple yellow yukata with white leaves scattered across it, her hair hanging down further than she remembered it.

"Euphy, are you okay? You don't seem very happy," Cornelia asked, having had permission to help her sister until she was healed.

"What do you think? I'm a prisoner in my mother's house and she thinks that since I can't remember an important part of my past that she can control me. If I'm not careful, she'll marry me off to a stranger that I don't love, just like you."

"I made my choice Euphy, but you're old enough that you don't have to follow what Mom says at all. You're your own person and there's nothing that she can do to change that. From what I can see this might end up being an ugly quarrel between you two once you're strong enough to do everything on your own."

"I have no doubt that it will be. I'm sorry I brought up your arranged marriage, Cornelia."

"It's all right. I'm living my life and you should live yours the way you wish it. Don't let anything here tie you down."

"That is what I intend to do."

* * *

When the day came that she could finally use her arm again, she went outside in the backyard and walked amongst the flowers growing there. As she squatted down to look at some tiger lilies, she began to sing softly a song she'd learned during her younger days.

_When I am down and oh my soul so weary_

_When troubles come and my heart burdened be_

_Then I am still and wait here in the silence_

_Until you come and sit awhile with me_

She sang in softly accented English, her eyes considering why this song was so important to her. She knew several languages because of her former high status in European society, so this song wasn't beyond her. She loved this song and it made her feel a little sad, even though she didn't know why.

Straightening up, she moved smoothly to the next set of flowers that were just beyond her reach.

_You raise me up so I can stand on mountains_

_You raise me up to walk on stormy seas_

_I am strong when I am on your shoulders_

_You raise me up to more than I can be_

A gentle smile came to her lips as she sat down languidly in the swing that hung inside the gazebo in the center of the grass. She swung with no need to do so except to relax. As she opened her mouth to sing again, a deep voice cut in, making her jerk a little.

_kasunda chihei no mukou ni_

_nemureru hoshi no souwa_

"_akenai yoru wa nai yo" to_

_ano hi no tsumi ga warau_

She turned her head to see the mysterious man walking towards her, a smile as gentle has hers had been on his face. He sat next to her, his eyes on hers as he began to sing again.

_furueru kimi wo dakiyose_

_todokanu kokuu wo aogu_

_kikoeru yami terasu kane_

_kimi eto michi wa tooku_

He took her hand in his strong one and her smile returned. She sighed and couldn't leave the song not completed.

_You raise me up so I can stand on mountains_

_You raise me up to walk on stormy seas_

_I am strong when I am on your shoulders_

_You raise me up to more than I can be_

And he completed his part by singing:

_kogoeru arashi no yoru mo_

_mada minu kimi e tsudzuku_

_oshiete umi wataru kaze_

_inori wa toki wo koeru_

_inori wa toki wo koeru_

They gave each other kind gazes, before she asked, "How do you know that song both in English and Japanese? They aren't even the same version."

"You sang them every night, and you taught the lyrics to me so I could sing either one with you, Euphy," he told her, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing the back of it.

Her cheeks flamed with color at the action, although it wasn't a bad feeling. "May I have your name?"

"Of course. F—"

"YOU! YOU'RE TRESPASSING ON MY PROPERTY!"

Euphy stood, moving between him and her enraged mother. "Mom, I invited him in. He's _my_ guest, so you can't interfere."

"I WON'T LET THAT MAN BE ON MY PROPERTY, WHETHER OR NOT YOU ALLOW HIM, EUPHY! GET OUT OR I'LL CALL THE POLICE!"

The near-albino woman sighed and shook her head. "Fine. If you don't want him here, I'm leaving with him."

Her female parent grabbed her by her bad arm. "No! I won't let you leave with him again! I won't allow it!"

"If I left with him before, that means that is what's been driving a wedge between us. Mom, let me go. I am no longer a child that you can keep and do with as you wish. You're interfering with my life and I will no longer take it sitting down. Whoever you are, you're not my mother, because my mother would never treat me this way."

The mysterious man took her other hand and led her away, his eyes drifting to the shocked woman before they turned the corner and were out of her sight.

"So, you were saying?"

"My name is Folken Lacour de Fanel."

"I like that name. It suits you."

"Thank you."

"How did we meet?"

"Through a dream."

"A dream? You mean I came into your dream or you came into mine?"

"Yes, you came into my dying dream and revived me. Not once have you been sorry that you did."

"Um…are we boyfriend and girlfriend, Folken-san?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "No, we're more than that. We're husband and wife."

She looked down at her left hand and saw no wedding band. "Then how come I don't have a ring?"

"I had to take it or else your mother would have. Give me your hand."

She slowly put her hand in his and he slipped the stunning jeweled ring on her finger. Her eyes sparkled like the gems in the sunlight. "It's beautiful. So does this mean that my name is now Euphimia Fanel?"

"Your full title is Euphimia Yume de Fanel, but everyone who knows you well calls you Euphy."

"Title? Does that mean that you're a lord or something like that?"

"I'm a prince."

"A prince? Of what country?"

"Not here on Earth, but on a place called Gaea."

"Gaea? So there's a planet besides Earth that sustains life?"

"Yes, there is. It's quite unlike this place. On Gaea, we call this place the 'Mystic Moon'."

"So we live in a castle?"

"Yes, with my brother, his wife and his surrogate sister. You should know his wife quite well already."

"Who is she?"

"Hitomi."

"Hitomi-chan? So she's a princess too?"

"No, she's the queen."

"Then your brother is the king?"

"Yes, he is. Do you want to meet them now, or later? You might get overwhelmed with too much information should we go to Gaea right now."

"I think later. I just like walking like this with you. I don't know where we'll spend the night. We don't have any money or anything to sell."

"Don't worry, we should leave by nightfall and spend some time at my summer home on Gaea, until you're mostly informed on what's happened the past five years."

"Okay."

They walked for a while, before she asked, "In five years…did we have any children that I should know about?"

"Yes, two. Cedric and Roy, our twins, and…"

"There was a third? Did I miscarry?"

"No, it was just complicated. Hitomi had trouble giving birth to a baby girl, and you stepped in and offered to carry her and Van's next child. You suffered so much through that whole pregnancy, even though you said you would've done it a hundred times over for your best friend."

"Was it a girl or boy?"

"A healthy boy whom they called Balgus, after my sword master."

"Hmmm…I wonder…"

"What else do you want to know?"

"Would you—"

"Euphy!"

She turned to see Cornelia coming towards them at a run. She panted, bending down to catch her breath before she looked up at them. "Take me with you, wherever you're going."

"Cornelia, that's ridiculous. You're married and have a life here. You can't just abandon it at the drop of a hat."

"I can too, watch me, Euphy! Please! I'm so unhappy here, and I think that I could forge a better life in the place you're going to!"

"I don't even know what this place is like that you're begging me to go to, Cornelia. I can't take you with me, because my husband and I are going to bring me back up to speed on my life."

Cornelia turned to Folken, her eyes pleading. "Please sir, convince my sister to take me with you. I won't be any trouble, I promise!"

The teal-haired prince sighed and looked to his wife. "She's given her word, Euphy."

Pale yellow eyes gazed at their owner's sister and considered, before she nodded. "All right, but you can't take anything with you save what you have with you, because we're going tonight."

Cornelia bounced up and down, cheering. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I brought all I could carry in this small suitcase!"

"No cell phones, alarm clocks, computers, or anything, because they would be of no use after the batteries ran out, because we plan on coming back here as little as possible."

"No electronics, promise."

"Even your wrist watch?"

"That's useful until it runs out, then I'll throw it away."

"This place will be completely foreign to you, as it is me. Are you certain you want to go?"

"Yes, I'll never complain! Cross my heart!"

Euphimia turned to Folken, nodding. He looked up at the sky, before a pillar of light engulfed them and they were taken up into Gaea, Cornelia yelping in surprise as her feet left the ground. She was wearing a simple knee-length pleated skirt, sneakers, and a frilly tank top, her hair up in two long ponytails. As she looked down at the quickly receding sidewalk, she dropped her wedding ring, the metal band landing with a "ping".

* * *

They landed on the borders of Fanelia, Folken lifting his wife up. She blushed at the contact and asked, "What are you doing?"

"You're still rather weak and I won't you stressing your body, Euphy."

"O-okay."

Cornelia looked around, gasping in bewilderment. "This place… Where are we?"

"Welcome to Fanelia, my homeland, on Gaea," Folken introduced.

"Gaea…? Are we even on Earth?"

"Where we were now lies above."

The dark-haired woman looked up and her eyes widened in awe. "The Earth and the moon are in the sky…amazing…but…" She turned to her brother-in-law. "Is this the place you saw in your dream, Euphy?"

Folken answered for his wife. "Yes, this is the place she's lived for five years. She told me of the dream she had before she came here, and she landed on this very spot overlooking our small country. Come, Cornelia-san, we have a ways to walk before we reach where we'll drop you off."

"An inn?"

"No, better than an inn. You'll have to wait and see."

They walked along the dirt road to the small country, very few people about as the sun set. When they approached the castle gates, Cornelia whispered, "You mean we're going to stay here?"

Folken nodded, as Euphimia had fallen asleep.

"Who goes there?" a sentry on the wall called down to them.

"Folken Lacour and Euphimia Yume de Fanel, prince and princess of Fanelia, with a guest!"

There was some excited yelling, before the gates opened, the younger sister of the princess gaping at the sight of the large castle with the enormous forest behind it. She lugged her suitcase along with her as she followed her escort into the vast courtyard. Several soldiers came running over, greeting, "Folken-sama! Euphimia-sama! You've returned safe and sound!"

"Van-sama and Hitomi-sama have searched everywhere for you!"

Other such sentiments were made as the gates were pushed shut. Cornelia's mouth still hung open as she tried to take it all in, but she jumped when she heard a female voice cry, "Folken-sama! You've come back with Euphy at last!"

A woman, who couldn't be described as anything but a cat, ran up to them. She had worry shining in her blue eyes as she surveyed Euphimia, who was fast asleep. "Is Euphy all right, Folken-sama?"

"Yes, she's fine for the most part. She received the best treatment on the Mystic Moon."

"You were on the Mystic Moon for this long? How did you survive?"

"It's not that bad, Merle. They were very hospitable, for the most part."

"What do you mean, 'for the most part'? Did they do something to you or Euphy?" Merle demanded, her tail poofing up to twice its size and standing straight up. "I'll go there and hunt them down if they hurt Euphy!"

"They didn't hurt her, it was just that her parents didn't seem to like me very much."

"More like hated you," Cornelia added in, nervous about this whole thing, even though she didn't complain once, like she'd promised.

Merle jerked at the voice before running around Folken and sniffing the new girl from the Mystic Moon. "Hey, who are you? Folken-sama, did you bring back another girl from the Mystic Moon? We already have two of them already!"

The curly-haired woman bowed deeply. "It's nice to meet you, Merle-san. My name is Yume Cornelia."

"Yume…Yume…" Merle gasped in realization. "You must be Euphy's younger sister she always talked about! Decided to tag along, did you?"

"Yes, I did. I didn't want to stay on Earth, Merle-san. Um…you seem rather pleased by my appearance."

The cat woman grinned, taking her by the hand. "I'm gonna have fun with you, Cornelia-chan! You're just the right type!"

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"At being a good friend for me! You already know Euphy, so I'm guessing you know Hitomi! I think you'll become my best friend, too!" Merle yanked her along. "Come on! We'll go tell Van-sama!"

Folken sighed and shook his head. "Merle, I'm not coming in."

Merle turned back to him. "Why? You just came back from being missing for a month! What's so important that you're leaving again?"

"There's something I must do with Euphy before we can enter the castle again. We'll be at the royal summer home for a while, although I don't know how long it will be. Euphy isn't quite herself, and being around everyone will make her very nervous. Please give Van, Hitomi, Cedric and Roy my deepest apologies, and to please not visit. Euphy doesn't need the extra stress."

"Okay Folken-sama, although Van-sama won't understand."

"Thank you, Merle."

* * *

I don't own either of the songs I had in this chapter. They belong to Josh Groban and Lena Park!

How did you like it? Please tell me! Tell me!

Review!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Just for everyone because of my little mistake of posting a chapter ahead of time, here's the next chapter of this current arc!

Enjoy!

* * *

Euphy woke up in a bed that was unfamiliar to her, and then she remembered that Folken had told her that they would be spending some time at his summer home. She got up, doing her morning routine before there was a timid knock on the door. She didn't know who it was, but since she was properly clothed, she called, "Who is it?"

"One of the maids, Euphimia-sama! Folken-sama sent me to dress you!"

Dress her? But she knew how to dress herself…unless the elegant outfits that royalty wore were difficult to put on. She nodded and assented, "Come in!"

A girl with short, almost boy-length dark blue hair and brown eyes wearing a modest dress with an apron over it, came in, biting her lip as she approached the princess. She bowed and explained, "I am to be your ladies maid until you return to the main castle, Euphimia-sama. I will bathe you, do your hair, and dress you for every occasion."

"Very well, thank you."

The girl nodded and proceeded to untie the obi that was around Euphimia's waist. Once her sleepwear was off, she proceeded to put on a dress that was golden yellow with many green threads embroidering the bodice. As the back was laced up, the princess gazed at her reflection. She looked very elegant, her hair braided delicately on the top and loose on bottom half. Jewels shone from her throat and hair, glinting in the light. Lastly, a pair of rather uncomfortable shoes was placed on her feet. She walked out, the girl smiling.

"You look very lovely, Euphimia-sama. I'll lead you to the kitchen where Folken-sama is waiting for you for breakfast."

"This is such a beautiful place, I don't know how I'll stop being awed by its sophistication."

"It's nothing like the main castle, Euphimia-sama! I've worked there and it's positively elegant in comparison to this place! You should think so, since you've lived there!"

"Oh…yes…I guess I should."

The door to the kitchen was pushed open, and Euphimia stepped in, seeing Folken sitting at a small table that was set for two. He smiled at her entrance and waved to her to come over. She came over, sitting across from him. He took her hand and kissed it. "Good morning, Euphy. How did you sleep?"

"Just fine, Folken-san."

The cook who served them looked a little surprised by how she'd addressed her husband, but said nothing.

"While we're eating, you may keep asking questions of me."

"…Where were we married?"

"In the throne room of the main castle, just before Van and Hitomi were."

"Was it a very long wedding?"

"Not ours, but my brother's was. It took nearly four hours for the ceremony to end. I recall that you slept through most of it."

She smiled a little at that. "I would guess so, since if I'm bored, I'll fall asleep. What's your brother like?"

"Van is very kind, stubborn, and hot-headed, although he's also fiercely loyal to our country and a wise ruler."

"Did I dream of many bad things during the time I don't remember?"

"Very few, in fact, I'm surprised you didn't foresee your accident."

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know if I did or not. I dream of the future, not the past."

"Although sometimes I wish you did."

"What's your surrogate sister like?"

"Merle's cunning, sly and even more loyal to Van than he is to Fanelia. She's one of your best friends and is a cat woman."

"Cat woman? You mean she's half animal?"

"Yes, although she acts more like a cat than a woman sometimes."

"I see. Is there anything I need to know about us?"

"Yes, several things, some of which I cannot reveal at this time."

* * *

Through many dreams and Q and A sessions, the couple was mostly up to speed on her education about what she was missing. She knew she was one of the last few Draconians left, besides the four royal children she and Hitomi had given birth to. She couldn't really learn to love her sons as she had Folken, because she couldn't recall them at all. She knew most of what she had to know, all she had to do now was familiarize herself with the people she was missing now, because only stories wouldn't keep her satisfied. She wanted to know how her friend had matured in five years, and meet her husband and their adopted sister and her husband. She wanted to see the palace up close, since she'd fallen asleep before getting there.

So they rode on horseback to the castle, Euphimia as prepared as she could be about her new family and friends. Folken dismounted and helped her off, setting her on the ground as if she was made of fine china. She'd regained her former strength, even though she did have a rather nasty scar on both sides of her shoulder.

As impatient as always, Merle came running, crying, "Euphy!"

Euphimia smiled a little as she received her adopted sister-in-law and best friend. Merle rubbed her face against her cheek, purring loudly. "Hello, Merle."

"You were gone so long and we were starting to think you'd moved out permanently! I missed you so much!"

Merle looked at her friend's slightly disconnected expression and then demanded, "Who are you and what have you done with Euphy?"

Folken sighed and placed a hand on the cat woman's shoulder. "Merle, Euphy doesn't remember."

"WHAT? Bu-but she knew me by name! How could she not remember?"

"We'll talk about it later. Right now we need her to see who I've been telling her about."

As patient as the cat woman, the four royal children came running down the steps, Cedric and Roy the faster of the quad. They reached their mother first, hugging her around the knees. "Mommy! We're so glad you're back!"

She reached down and rubbed each head affectionately. "Hello, my dears. It's good to be back."

"Auntie Euphy! Auntie Euphy!"

"Yukari! Balgus! My, haven't you grown so much since I last saw you!"

Hitomi, who could stand it no longer, came down the steps with Van right behind her. "Euphy-chan!"

"Hitomi-chan!"

They hugged each other, genuine tears coming down the near-white blonde's cheeks as she finally got to see her best friend again after six months. She was amazed how much like a queen Hitomi looked, the spitting image, and she looked absolutely in bliss, while she'd been rather troubled while on Earth. Her countenance was bright and joyful, as she pulled back to look at her friend.

"I'm so glad you're back. Folken said you were recovering from something, what was it?"

"I'll tell you later, Hitomi-chan. Van-kun, I'm so glad to see you're doing just as well as ever."

Van placed a hand on her shoulder. "As am I, Euphy-chan. As your brother, I cannot feel but the uttermost relief that you're finally within the castle walls again."

He then placed an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, we shouldn't stand out here all day."

She was led inside, where she tried not to gape at the finery of the main castle. Her maid had been right, this was more elegant than the small summer home castle could ever have been. The four children were led off by their nursemaids while the adults went into Van's study to talk. Merle exploded, "HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING, EUPHY? YOUR TEARS WERE GENUINE WHEN YOU SAW HITOMI! YOU MUST REMEMBER HER!"

Van and Hitomi were surprised, yet not as much as they could've been, the king nodded in understanding. "I knew something was off in your attitude, Euphy-chan. Your expressions were a little too much like they were painted on. I'm glad the children didn't notice, although they will if you don't familiarize yourself with your emotions again."

"Van, it's not just that. Euphy has completely forgotten five years of her life, and, unfortunately, it was the time she spent here, which is why she recognizes Hitomi but no one else. I've been painstakingly trying to have her relearn everything that she's lost permanently, but she needs to have everyone act normally for her to get into her old self again. I suppose some things will come to her naturally, but most will have to be reintroduced to her again."

She smiled a little and lowered her head. Would she be able to relearn everything? It would be rather difficult, to say the least. She would have to meticulously observe things and attempt to fit in as best as she could. But, then again, she was rather good at doing so.

* * *

Euphimia woke up the next day, stretching and wincing at the sight of her formerly torn-up shoulder. It was a rather ugly scar, like someone had shot her with a high-caliber gun. Yet the doctor had said she'd had wood slivers in it, so what had made such a gory wound? It was at least five inches across, like whatever had hit her had been rather large. Folken had refused to tell her about it, because it was too traumatic for him. She looked around the room, seeing how well-furnished it was, with a king-size bed with heavy blue drapes meant to help the pair sleep a little later when they liked. As she got up, she felt how smooth the sheets were, like the top-notch silk only royalty had back on Earth. She walked over to the large vanity that had a gilded mirror she could see herself from the waist up, covered with feminine things for her to look at: a silver-handled brush and mirror, an oil lamp with crystals hanging from it, a couple boxes full of jewelry for almost every part of her body, ribbons, pins and other such things for her hair, and a beautiful box that had a key in the keyhole just waiting to be turned.

She twisted it, hearing something clicking, so she turned it some more until it stopped and the top opened, a soft tune began to play as a pair of figures, a male Draconian holding out his hand to a fair princess, with her reaching just as earnestly back. They got closer as it played, and as they were about to touch, the lid closed again. A tear came to her eye as she saw this, and she ran a finger over her cheek to catch it before it fell.

"Why do I feel so sad when I hear this song? I don't know it at all."

(The song is the tune Folken whistles in the series.)

There was a knock before a couple younger girls came in, coming up to her.

"Euphimia-sama? Are you awake enough to get ready for the day?"

She recalled that Folken had banished her former ladies maids, and these ones were meeker than them, so she nodded, standing. She was bathed and dressed, before her make-up and hair were done, a final necklace fastened around her neck. It was then that the girls noticed her scar.

"Oh dear, what can be done to cover this blemish? Where did you get such a scar, Euphimia-sama?"

"I don't remember."

"Oh!" the one who had asked gasped, covering her mouth. "I'm so sorry, my lady!"

"You're not supposed to talk about that!" the other hissed.

"It's all right," the princess assured them. "It doesn't feel uncomfortable to talk about something I don't recall. Whatever it was, it didn't enter or exit my shoulder smoothly."

The girls winced, before a beautiful shawl was placed around her shoulders to conceal the imperfection on her otherwise perfect body. It matched her dress nicely, so she got up and nodded to them, walking out with them following her, although not too closely to be annoying. Obviously Folken had disliked the behavior of her first set of ladies maids so he'd told the pair she had now to treat her, with respect. But then again, she didn't know her way around the castle anymore, so without a guide, she wouldn't know where to go unless she asked a servant.

She stopped and turned to her ladies maids, who stopped when she had and were alarmed to see her looking at them.

"Is there something wrong, princess?"

"I wanted to go outside to look at the gardens, would that be all right?"

"Of course, Euphimia-sama, this is your home, after all."

"It's just that…with my memory loss…I don't know where to go."

The two girls looked at each other before smiling. "We'll direct you, your highness. Don't worry."

"Thank you."

She got outside to the gardens and was currently walking amidst the flowers, the strange tune escaping her mouth in a serene hum. Her ladies maids, who hadn't heard it before, gave her odd looks before one asked, "Euphimia-sama, where is that tune from? It's something neither of us has heard before."

"I don't know, it came from the music box on my vanity table."

"Music box? You mean the one that doesn't open with a key sticking out of the front?"

"Yes."

"Folken-sama told us specifically not to touch it, because only you could."

Euphimia placed a finger to her lips in thought. An item only she could touch? Why was that? Was there something inside it that was for her eyes only? She would have to ask her husband later.

"Mommy!"

"Mommy, Mommy!"

Roy and Cedric came running, their nursemaids right on their heels, obviously not pleased to have been running after the two princes in such a manner. They grabbed onto her skirt and looked up at her, Roy speaking.

"Mommy, guess what?"

"Oh, don't tell me…" She pretended to think, since she'd seen this in last night's dream. "Did you two finally begin your sword training?"

Cedric jumped up and down. "Mommy, you always know everything! You always guess right the very first time!"

"Did Uncle Van teach you some good things?" she asked them, a soft smile on her face that she didn't realize had appeared as she squatted down to their level.

"Yes!" Roy chirped, grinning at his mother's interest. "How to block and parry! He said it was very important in sword fighting!"

"Do you think so?"

The twin boys nodded vigorously.

"Well then, you've learned something, then." She then reached up and took a lock of Cedric's carefully messy hair between her fingers. She realized that this dark hair came from their grandmother, Varie, the Draconian, yet they had her, their mother's, eyes, and Folken's complexion. And each of them smiled just like him, but with fewer things burdening their little minds. That made her smile all the more tenderly as she breathed, "Such a beautiful balance between the generations…" She hugged them close and kissed each of them on the crown of their head. "I just know that both of you will be excellent men one day. You have hearts of gold and accept things for what they are. Don't you lose that, you promise?"

They pulled back and promised in unison, "I promise, Mommy!"

As they turned away and walked back to their nursemaids, she heard Cedric whisper, "Mommy was acting a little weird."

"Yeah," Roy agreed. "What's wrong with her?"

"Maybe something happened to her while she was gone with Daddy."

"Maybe, we should ask Daddy later."

She straightened up, eyes sad as she murmured, "Don't worry, my dear children, my love is there, but my emotions have hidden themselves from me until I can gain them back again."

The Draconian princess stared at the sun until a sudden spot of shade came over her head. She looked up to see a parasol she'd thought had gone missing was being held over her head, before she realized who was holding it. Her eyes widened at the sight of her husband shading her.

"You shouldn't let yourself get burned in the sun, Euphy. Your fair complexion would get ruined."

"…Folken-kun, what are you doing here?"

"How many times have I told you just to call me Folken? We are husband and wife."

"I thought you said you'd be busy until noon."

"You probably haven't noticed the sun, but it's past noon."

She twiddled her fingers before looking up into his eyes. They were full of the soft love they'd had since she'd laid eyes on him that day in the hospital. What had made her fall in love with him again, but she was still rather shy and couldn't voice it yet.

"Is something wrong? You're fidgeting, love."

"Um…are you being patient with me?"

"With what?"

She averted her eyes, blushing. At her reaction, his smile turned a little frisky.

"You're blushing, it must be something embarrassing."

She tugged him down and whispered, "You must be craving the physical contact we had when I remembered everything."

He merely whispered back, "Only if you're comfortable with it, Euphy. I won't push you."

She fiddled with her wedding ring and realized she didn't have an engagement ring. "I don't have an engagement ring under my wedding ring… How did you propose, then?"

"Perhaps tonight."

That made her all the more curious.

* * *

When she got to her room to retire for the night, Folken was already there, sitting at his desk and writing something. Her ladies maids stopped at the doorway before bowing to her. "Good night, Euphimia-sama."

They closed the door behind her and left, which made her feel the presence Folken always gave off even more strongly than before. It made her heart start pounding in her chest and made her want to reach out to him. She knew in the past that she must've loved him without any bounds, her eyes glittering with tears as she walked slowly to him. As she reached him and stretched out her hand, he turned, standing and drawing her close.

"Euphy, when I proposed to you, it wasn't the human way, I did it in the Draconian way. I offered my feather to you and you accepted it as proof of my undying love. Would you accept that I still love you the same way?"

She looked up at him and smiled, a true smile. "Yes, with all my heart."

His eyes suddenly went from soft to burning with passion as he scooped her up and gave her a toe-curling kiss. She trembled as her dress slipped off of her to the floor, and he caressed her scar. "I'm so sorry I didn't realize what it was until you were hit, my love. I will never be so careless again."

"I believe you. What was it that hit me?"

"A large crossbow bolt with a barbed head, so I was thankful you were passed out when I had to take it out. It really tore you up and I'm thankful you can still fly after that."

She placed a finger to his lips. "No more of that tonight, love."

* * *

There you go! This is the end of this arc!

I went to an anime convention just a little more than a week ago and boy did I have fun! I saw someone who cosplayed Folken and I got to hug them! _Twice!_ **squeals**

Anyway, you know what to do!

Please review!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Here comes the villain! Who all you've been waiting for!

Enjoy!

* * *

The dream-seer woke up in the middle of the night, sitting up, or at least she tried to. She noticed her husband still holding her in his arms. She managed to get out of his hold, putting on a robe before walking out onto the balcony, the warm summer air playing with her hair and exposed skin, for she hadn't bothered to tie her garment shut. She thought about her dream, about a pair of eyes in the darkness. A pair of eyes she didn't recognize, even with who she'd met during these months she'd been on Gaea. She closed her eyes, her wings spreading out behind her, perfect even if they'd been injured before. She sighed as she felt the wind go through her sensitive feathers.

A sudden tap on the wood in front of her made her eyes open in alarm, only for her to meet the cold blue eyes she'd seen in her dream. Before she could even gasp or cry for help, she was seized and carried away. She reached out for the window where her husband still slumbered, although without her, he wouldn't rest long. She struggled, biting her captor's hand to free her mouth to shriek a single word.

"FOLKEN!"

After which a blow to her head made her pass out, her wings vanishing with a flurry of glowing feathers.

* * *

She woke again only to be thrown on hands and knees, now fully aware that she was mostly naked still. Her face flamed with color, as she knelt up, pulling her robe closed with her hands and hugging herself. Her eyes met the same pair as the one who'd captured her, but these were different, not cold and detached, but full of arrogance and lust. Their owner was a man with long, straight black hair contained within a ponytail at the back of his neck. His clothing was mainly black with gold and teal highlights, of which she'd never seen before. He wore a silver circlet with gems as cold as his eyes in shade. His lewd grin was very apparent in not just the way he held his mouth, but with all his facial features.

"This is the Wing Goddess? She's lovely Yukimaru," he purred, standing from the wicked-looking throne he'd been lounging in. "Where'd you find her when you've been searching for her for over five years since her descent to Gaea?"

"In the Fanelian royal castle."

"FANELIA? ARE YOU SERIOUS? HA HA HA HA HA HA! THAT BACKWARDS COUNTRY THAT HAS BARELY RECOVERED ITS STRENGTH FROM BEING RAZED TO THE GROUND? SUCH NEWS AMUSES ME!"

"But what she was able to call out before I could silence her concerns me, Onii-san."

"And what is that?"

"A name. Folken."

That made the man in front of her freeze. His expression changed from amusement to fear in an instant before he screamed, "YOU LIE, YUKIMARU! HE DIED SIX YEARS BEFORE THIS! THERE'S NO WAY HE COULD LIVE!"

"No, it may just be true, Onii-san. Not only that, he must have taken in this girl as his lover, considering her dress."

Again, the man's face changed from sick fear to sadistic happiness as he heard these words. "Not only can we drive her to destroying Gaea, we can make that damned Strategos pay for what he did to me. Bring her."

"You know that any harm to her might make her die."

"I won't hurt her that much, I promise. I'll make sure that he'll regret for ever crossing my path. Now bring her."

* * *

Euphimia screamed as she was hit across the back yet again by a nine-tailed whip, her skin a bloody mess. Her wrists were numb from being held up by coarse ropes, the skin chafed so much that she felt blood dripping down her sides from it. Her tear ducts were dry from crying so much, her throat felt like she'd never had a drink of water in her life. She whimpered as she was dropped to the ground at last, hearing his sick laughter.

"Onii-san, that might've been a little too much. What if her wings won't emerge because of the scarring this will cause?"

"That felt good, I don't care about destroying Gaea anymore. Bring her to my chambers and do not do anything to heal her, or else it'll be your turn for this treatment."

She was picked up and carried, before being carried to a room and placed on a bed. She was left alone as she tried to even breathe, it felt like her throat was closing from the dehydration and overuse. Only dry sobs escaped her, her wrists still tied up even though they still bled, so much that the bindings did nothing to staunch the flow. She tried not to pass out, or else things could be shown to her of the future. A future that could end in her death, if this treatment was any testament to her attacker's lack of feeling for her pain. In fact, he relished in it because she was connected to Folken.

What could her gentle husband have done to incur such wrath…?

* * *

Okay, we have a psycho on our hands. If you didn't figure it out, he was wearing the same uniform Folken wore during the series. Didn't know how to describe it any better, sorry!

Short chapter, I hope you can forgive me for that!

Please review!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Last chapter wasn't pleasant, I admit, but please, don't hate me for it. Really, I got _no reviews_ last chapter!

Anyways, here's the next installment, and it's not really all that pleasant either, at least in the beginning.

Enjoy!

* * *

For months she drifted out and into her dreams, so much she was confused as to when she was awake and asleep. Either her body was never able to recover enough, or she was beginning to fall into the coma state that her mother had warned her that she could get into if her powers got too potent for her to handle. She dreamed/lived through much abuse, mental, physical and sexual, for this unknown man pulled out all the stops, not caring if she passed out or not. She miscarried at least once, even if she saw it at least three or four times, but then she finally got saved.

Yukimaru, who had been watching the whole time, couldn't stand it anymore and executed his brother right in his bedroom by beheading. He murmured, "You went too far, you might've possibly killed her during all this and you would've never known."

She tried to speak, but either couldn't because she was too weak to, or else she was dreaming. As a dream-seer, she often mistook dreams for reality once a certain point was breached in her power and she fell into a permanent sleep and see the outside world yet not able to do anything because of the condition she'd fallen into. She just hoped she wasn't in a coma, or else she would never come out of it.

"I'm so sorry for you, Wing Goddess. You should've been preserved and treated like the deity you were. Now I must take you to the one you called out to so many times, so that they may bury you."

He lifted her and carried her through the path of trees to Fanelia, where he sneaked into the castle walls and found Folken in the gardens, his head in his hands.

"Euphy…my dear Euphy…where could you have gone?"

Yukimaru made his presence known by walking louder than he was used to. "Sir, you must be who she spoke of."

Folken looked up, eyes instantly narrowed into a death glare as he saw who he thought was an enemy. "Who are you?"

"Not an enemy, for I have granted a favor. I've brought the one you seek back to you, although she's not of this world anymore. I don't know when it happened, but she stopped moving and reacting to all that's happened to her."

Her dear husband looked like his heart shattered in that moment, as he received her into his embrace, yet she felt none of his warmth. He cradled her to him, his tears soaking her hair.

"Euphy, Euphy, Euphy…why? Why did you have to die after so long? I searched for you for three years and I couldn't find you, no one could."

"I'll leave you to your grief, sir."

Yukimaru vanished, Folken not even noticing. He carried her into the castle, still cradled to him like she was his lifeline. He went to the throne room, Van and Hitomi standing up in seeing such a strong man as Folken sobbing like a child, clinging to what they must've thought was a bloody piece of flesh, she was so beaten up. Hitomi came running first, trying to pry her brother-in-law's hands from what he was holding, to try and examine it.

"Onii-chan, what's happened? I've never seen you like this in my life!"

"Folken, please let go, you're probably further hurting whatever you're holding so tightly."

Folken only relented a little so that her face was revealed. He buried his face in her hair as he sobbed, "She's dead, and I couldn't do a thing about it…"

Hitomi checked her pulse and found a steady one, albeit a bit weak. She gasped and cried, "Folken, she's not dead! Her heart's still beating! We have to get her to Earth so she can get proper treatment!"

Van knew that his wife was right and tried to snap his brother out of his sorrow. "Onii-chan, wake up! Euphy's not dead, do you hear me? She's just asleep!"

Folken's eyes widened and he felt her face. "But she's so cold…"

"It's because of the blood loss, Folken!" Hitomi assured. "Once that's taken care of, the color will come back to her face! Come on, we have to hurry or we might lose her after all!"

A pillar of light took them up and they landed on the street just in front of the hospital, Hitomi leading them in and the instant some of the doctors and nurses saw the bloody and beaten body of the woman in her husband's arms, they swarmed, operating and calling for blood transfusions. Folken immediately offered his blood, as did Van, since they were both of Draconian descent. After several hours of waiting and worrying after that, a single doctor came out, not a happy look on his face.

"Fanel-san, your wife isn't doing well, although she's still alive. She's in a coma, has been since before she came in, it seems. All the injuries piled on top of each other should've killed her, but by some miracle, she's still holding on. Why she's in a coma, we can only guess, but it was probably caused by a head injury or just the trauma. You may see her, but only after you've scrubbed up. Her immune system is very weak right now because of the major surgery she's been through."

Hitomi nodded in understanding. "He means we have to wash up to our elbows with lots of soap and wear masks just in case we're sick, or else we can't see Euphy. Come on, I'll demonstrate for you two to copy."

* * *

There you go, the situation seems pretty grim, doesn't it? How will things get better at this point?

Find out the next chapter, of course!

Please review!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

Okay, this is the very last chapter! How will everything turn out? Will Euphy be stuck in her dreams until death?

Enjoy!

* * *

Euphy sat in the realm of dreams, so sad because she now was stuck within her dreams until her life was over. She sat, her head lowered almost to her chest in depression. "What's left for me but to give up? Oh Folken, please, let me see you at least once before I must succumb to watching you live without me."

Almost as if her will called him there, Folken appeared, exactly as she'd seen him in her last dream. He blinked and looked around at the darkness, before he turned on his heel, facing her. He recognized her immediately, before dropping to his knees. "Euphy, you're really alive! I thought I'd never see you again!"

She raised her head, her eyes showing her despair because she no longer knew what to do besides bottle up all her bliss and show her misery. A ghost of a smile shone in her eyes as she whispered, "Folken…"

He held her close and she allowed herself to place her head against his, but not nuzzle as he was doing. No tears escaped her eyes in this obviously happy moment, because it wouldn't last. She would stay here until her body finally gave up on life, tired of living such a droll existence many dream-seers were forced into.

"Euphy, why don't you hold me like you used to? Is there something wrong?" He pulled back to see her face, like when he'd first met her, but worse. It was like this would be the last time she'd ever see him, even in this dream. His eyes narrowed as he lifted her chin. "Euphy, tell me what's wrong. You're not as happy to see me as I am to see you."

"I am, but in this time that I've been like this, reality has set in and I no longer have any hope that I will see you again."

"Why? This stimulation you're having by talking with me will make your body react and you'll wake from this coma, I promise you."

"Don't promise that, for it is one you cannot keep, Folken."

"Why?" he demanded, glaring into her eyes. "You're hiding something from me, Euphy. Tell me."

She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his crushed expression a second time. "This coma isn't caused by any injury I've received in the past three years. It is caused by my powers becoming too strong and drawing me permanently into a state that allows me to dream undeterred for the rest of my life."

"But you aren't just a dream-seer, Euphy! You're the Wing Goddess! You have the power to make anything happen by your will! You can't give up like this, I won't let you!"

"It's too late. I was like this for quite some time before I was brought to you. So many horrible things happened while I was there…I miscarried our child…his child…I was beaten, whipped, starved until I almost died, abused every way you could ever imagine. Oftentimes I had to see such things twice until I sank into this state of endless visions. I can do nothing for myself anymore, but you can live on, for you have so many things to live for."

"It's been a year since you came back. Euphy, look at me."

She stayed where she was, refusing to give herself more pain.

"Euphy, please."

Her flat yellow eyes opened, and she looked into her husband's eyes. "Why must I have hope for the future when I can no longer be a part of it?"

"This one word ought to change your mind, Euphy. 'Sora'."

The entire realm shivered as he said that word, and her eyes widened in shock. "It faltered for a moment. How did you do that?"

"That is the song you must sing to set yourself free and stop the war that's been happening on Gaea. By spreading your wings, you will bring salvation to our world. Come, sing. You have the voice of an angel."

He pulled her to her feet and let go, standing with his arms crossed as he looked at her expectantly.

She closed her eyes hesitantly before she opened her mouth and began to sing.

_Win dain a lotica_

_En vai tu ri_

_Si lo ta_

_Fin dein a loluca_

_En dragu a sei lain_

_Vi fa-ru les shutai am_

_En riga-lint_

_Win chent a lotica_

_En vai tu ri_

_Si lo ta_

_Fin dein a loluca_

_Si katigura neuver_

_Floreria for chesti_

_Si entina_

_La la la la la la la_

_La la la la la_

_Fontina blu cent_

_De cravi esca letisimo_

_La la la la la la la _

_La la la la la_

_De quantian_

_La finde reve_

_Win dain a lotica_

_En vai tu ri_

_Si lo ta_

_Fin dein a loluca_

_En dragu a sei lain_

_Vi fa-ru les shutai am_

_En riga-lint_

With a flash of bright light, she emerged from the world of dreams into the real world, her glowing blue wings lighting up with power as they spread, sending a wave of power through them to Gaea as she teleported herself and any other resident of Gaea with her back to the place of where her legend originated, Fanelia.

* * *

Cedric and Roy, ten years old, laughed as they ran through the clearing that they were having a picnic with their parents, cousins and aunt and uncle. Yukari and Balgus were on their cousins' heels, although Yukari had to hike up her skirt to run as fast as her little brother.

Van and Folken kept careful watch, since each child sported a scar of some kind from the short yet bloody war that had transpired during the year that Euphimia had been in a coma. With her song, she'd restored what had been lost in the war and changed the world for the better. She was much happier now than she'd ever been, because of one thing: she now no longer had the ability to see the future though her dreams. She smiled from the heart more often, the action so easy for her.

"Folken, you should really listen to what Euphy says about you every now and then. She might be saying something rather naughty," Hitomi teased, the queen giggling.

"Euphy, were you gossiping about me to your sister?" Folken playfully demanded, picking her up and putting her on his lap.

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, I just wondered if our next child will be born by next spring."

"You act as if waiting so long was a bad thing."

"No, it's not that, it's just that I always seem to get pregnant with our children in the summer."

"That's nonsense, Cedric and Roy—"

"—were conceived in the summertime, just after our wedding."

"This one—"

"In the summer, since it's early fall right now."

Van snickered. "Maybe mid-year is your time for having kids, Onii-chan."

The teal-haired man shook his head, sighing. "I can't win against that."

Euphimia smiled, knowing that because of her old powers gone, her new ones would be able to reign and not keep her back, but spring her forward into a bright and optimistic future.

* * *

There you go! I had a fun time writing it, I hope you all enjoyed this story!

For the last time...

Please review!


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